InuYasha: The Love That Transcends Time
by Garret Jax
Summary: Sequal to Two Weeks. The dread chinese youkai, Menomaru, is revived with the power of the shikon jewel. Sesshoumaru must raise an army to fight him, and his vast armies, while InuYasha must fight his own raging demon blood which threatens to enfulge him.
1. Prolouge: Revival

Hello, hello, hello! I'm back, as you will be pleased to know! Now, before I begin, I will tell you what's up. First of all, I know that you're going to hate me, but I've only got one chapter for you until at least next Saturday! I'm really sorry about this; however I do most of my writing through a college computer lab.  Unfortunately, that is closed right now because of Christmas break. As a result, I have my prologue where I can get to it, and that's all. The lab might be open before Saturday, and if it is, I'll get the chapter up as soon as possible. You will be pleased to know, though, that the writing is much better than before. I'm very, very proud of it. I've got about six chapters written, each at about six to eight pages, meaning about three to four thousand words each ready, and I've got the first drafts for others ready as well, but they need serious editing. 

Now, for those of you who were wondering where this went, I'll tell you. I took it off for a little while so that I could rewrite it, and also concentrate on my grades in an effort to make National Honors Society. Now I'm back, and the writing is better than ever, so you're in for a treat. Also, might I add that I got my report card today, and my final average so far this year is 89.14, which is just enough to make NHS on its own. Now I have to hope that my previous grades through high school will keep it above that line of 89. Yessiree folks, I might be going to NHS! WOOHOO! 

Anyway, I'm very, very happy right now, because I get to be in contact with all of you again, something that a very much missed. Now, this is simply the prologue, and admittedly, nothing much has happened in it yet, however, as soon as I can get to my other chapters, I will post them, probably at a rate of two per week, so I can keep ahead of the ballgame. I thank you for this patience during my little hiatus, and I hope that you will enjoy this newly revised version as much as I do! 

Oh, and for those of you who are just starting to read this, and have never heard of me before, this is a SEQUAL to my previous Fic: Two Weeks. You will not understand what is going on unless you read it. You can get to it through my author page. Also, I apologize, but it is nowhere near as well written as this, however, about one-thousand reviews disagree with me. So if you want to check out this fic, read that one first. Thank you. 

            So, now, without further ado, we have: InuYasha: The Love that Transcends Time. 

*****

The forest was dark…

Deep…

Old…

Black things flitted through the deepest shadow of the twisted overhanging branches. 

Spidery cracks ran though the living would, eating it like a disease. 

The trees stood thick, feeding the darkness. 

They towered over the earth, standing hundreds of feet tall. 

Their roots stretched deep under the earth, touching lightly, then darting away again, like lightening. 

They were ancient. 

Giants who saw the beginning. 

They whispered of things that had happened. 

The ages that had passed. 

Their memories drifted like passing zephyrs. 

They whispered of wars that had passed. 

_InuTaisho…_

Great men who had died. 

_Hyoga…_

And the tales of long ago. 

_Ryuukotsutsei___

And they waited. 

To see if more tales would be spun. 

In the center of the forest, there was a shattered tree. 

It rose like a titan among men, out of the forest. 

It was old, and massive. 

Splinters of rotten wood littered the space around it. 

Out of the middle of the giant stalk stood a sparkling white fang. 

It glowed, and pulsed, and spidery cracks ran up it, like the rest of the forest. 

Far below, was a sapling. 

It was twisted, gnarled, but definitely of the same wood of the great tree beside it. 

It was twisted, and contorted.

It stretched up to the sky, yearning for the one day it could be like its proud parent. 

*****

InuYasha

The Love that Transcends Time

By Garret Jax

*****

            The hulking youkai beat its mighty wings, rising further into the air with each swoop. 

            It swooped up from the village, soaring, letting a great shriek escape its beak. It had the Shikon Jewel! Nothing could stop it! 

            Below, in the village panic was swooping through like wildfire. 

            Save for one young girl. 

            She wore odd clothes. There were all green and white, and made of smooth material. She even wore complete shoes, normally a dignity saved for royalty, but she seemed almost as common as a villager. She was struggling with something. Haphazardly she tied something to an arrow, and mounted it clumsily on a longbow. 

            She whipped around, and aimed it at the bird, one eye closing, and the other narrowing, sighting along the arrow. Her tongue edged between her teeth, and she bit down lightly, venting the stress her arms were under. 

            _Please hit… _

Her prayer went out, and she let the arrow fly. It soared up, and then began to fall, far short of the target. But something happened. The thing tied to the arrow pulsed, and the arrow curved back up, soaring up towards the titanic bird. 

            It contacted like and unearthly comment, flashing for just a moment before it sunk into the hard flesh of the bird. 

            There was a hard chink, and the youkai's eyes widened in pain. 

            It glowed inward with a reddish light, then exploded outward, shedding feathers and charred flesh. What was left was a perfect sphere, a milky, pinkish color. It glowed and surged brilliantly. Slowly, a tiny crack spread along its surface, and rushed up along its surface, spreading out like a spider web. 

            The surface of the jewel flared once, and then the sky was streaked crimson, as millions of tiny shards dashed across the sky, flaring like miniature comets. 

            One cut far, far off to the north, shooting though the air, searing a golden path through the blue sky. 

            It flew into the deep forest, illuminating all the shadows. It tore through the trees and branches and leaves, until it finally imbedded itself in a twisted, contorted sapling. 

             It stood there glowing for a moment, light throbbing from it. 

            The sapling reached up a branch, and plucked the jewel from its bark. Even as the branch drew away, the twigs that grasped the tiny shard began to thicken, grow joints. The thin bark slowly began to expand, and twist, becoming smoother. The thick, pale green leaves that adorned the top of the sapling grew together, becoming longer, silkier. The branch that had held the crystal was now a hand. The hand came up, and one of the figures eyes opened, inspecting the jewel. 

            His lips parted in a grin, revealing a pair of sharp fangs. He tossed his bluish green hair, and closed his fist around the jewel shard. 


	2. Reunion

Hello, everybody. I'm glad to be back again, and I have my collage lab again! Yippie! Anywho, here is the first actual chapter. Also, in case you missed the note in the first chapter, here is one again: This is a SEQUAL to my previous fic, Two Weeks. 

Actually, it's book two of a three book trilogy I'm calling, appropriately enough, _A feudal Fairy Tale. _So, if you haven't read Two Weeks, you will have absolutely no idea what on earth is going on. Read two weeks, then this one. I know it's not as well written as this, but you definitely need to read it to understand what is going on. 

Also, I forgot the disclaimer. All characters in and/or pertaining to InuYasha are not mine… no matter how much I want them… So don't sue me… I have no money… otherwise I would buy the characters… and then you couldn't sue me. 

All original characters are copyright of me, Garret Jax. This includes: All the dragons, Captain Morgan, Aaron, and Death. Leave them alone. If you plead REALLY REALLY nicely, and you're a REALLY REALLY good author, I might let you use them, a little. 

Thank you. 

*****

            The birdsong cut through the early morning, piercing the deep green foliage of the woods, making a glorious transition from the half-lighted morning of spring to the deep dazzling day of summer. The sky was only partly clouded, painting masterpieces in light and dark on the hills. The brilliant yellow beams were stained green as they pierced the leaves, and lit the forest in a brilliant emerald light. 

            The birdsongs had been erupting like an orchestra every morning, and this day they passed easily through a pair of ears. They were not normal ears, by any means. Many would have described them as 'fuzzy,' although not necessarily to the owner's face. They were silver, pointed, and lightly furred, so that they seemed like dog ears. They stuck out of a veritable mane of messy silver hair, amazingly beautiful despite its disheveled look. The hair sat on the head of a young man, and tumbled down almost to his hips. Two locks on either side of his face framed his foreign complexion. His skin was relatively fair, and his features sharp. Thick eyebrows lounged over sharp, intelligent eyes. Those eyes were a deep, molten gold color, with cat-like, slit pupils. The mans nose was sharp, and his mouth was caught up in a cocky little grin that was worn by young men everywhere who had yet to find that they weren't invincible. His form was lithe and muscled; although that could be told more by the confident, strong way he walked more than any physical appearance. He was of medium height, standing a little less than six feet tall, not counting the ears. He wore the traditional clothing of a warrior. A lightweight, white haori hung loosely around his frame, covered by another, slightly heavier red haori, made of an odd, rough material. They were both tucked neatly into a read hakama, which hung all the way to his ankles, exposing his bare feet. He wore a sash around his waist, and tucked in the sash was an old beat up scabbard, with the slightly frayed hilt of a beat up sword sticking out of it. His arms hung loosely at his side, and his shoulders swung slightly with every step he took. His hands, like the rest of his build, were lithe and slender, each fingertip ending in a half inch long claw. 

            The man strode through the forest confidently. Anyone who saw him would have mistaken him for the son of a mighty lord, were it not for the telltale signs against it. His ears, and the sharp claws at his sides betrayed his nature; he was a hanyou. Born of the unholy union between a pitiful, weak human, and a noble youkai, he was shunned by all worlds, sent out to wander. Or, at least, that was his supposed fate. He had been on a journey. It had been long, and hard, but now he was going back. Back to a place where he belonged. 

            He emerged out of the woods, still swaggering arrogantly, and his eyes narrowed happily as he spied an old village. It was an old settlement, probably had its roots back in old religion. Even now, in fact, it bore the tell-tale signs, for it was built on a hill, and on the top of that hill was an old, beat up temple. That temple meant something to him, and at once, laying eyes on it, he felt the old, familiar pain return. He looked down, and felt at his chest through the two layered haori. He couldn't feel the scar, but he knew it was there. An old scar, where an arrow had pierced him long ago. 

            He shrugged off the bitter weight of nostalgia quickly, and sniffed. The village was still rusty and old, like it always was. Off to the right, farmers toiled in their rice paddies, and he could see some of the women of the village heading out there as well, probably bringing some breakfast to the workers. 

            He turned towards that path among the growing ponds, hoping against all hopes to be able to be able to get through without any other distractions. But it was a small town, and even the slightest thing would get around quickly. And hanyou were very, very rare. And this particular one even rarer. 

            "Well, InuYasha…" rang out an old, wizened voice, gritty with age. "…It seems ye have finally returned." 

            The hanyou shrugged and turned. The speaker was a shriveled old woman. Her hair was white, and tied up in a formal topknot. Her face was wrinkled with age, but her eyes were sharp and wise. She was a very short, wide woman, and she used an old longbow as a walking staff. Her attire was much like the hanyou's, however she lacked the frayed outer haori. On her feet she wore traditional Japanese sandals. 

            "Well, well, well." He said, his voice was a clear, baritone, so full of what he liked to call 'positive confidence' (But what other people knew as outright arrogance) the he could have kept the tone talking with Buddha himself. "It looks like yer still alive." He said, taking a step forward. "I thought you would have given up and kicked the bucket by now." 

            The woman shrugged. "Aye," she said. "It would be well for me to remain here to keep ye in line, InuYasha." 

"Yeah, yeah." InuYasha said dismissively. "Same old Kaede, always yakin' about sumpthin." He crossed his arms, and (if possible) his tone became even more 'confident.' "Anyway, I need to get back to the wench, or she's gonna kill me for sure! I said I'd be back almost a week ago."

            Kaede shook her head. "What, pray tell, was the reason for the obvious tardiness?" She asked. "Young Kagome was indeed rather put out. She came here, and waited for ye all day with a handmade lunch, and stomped back to the well as the twilight set in." 

            InuYasha winced. A handmade lunch? Oh, jeez, he was in trouble. "Well, honestly, things were a little more complicated than I had thought." 

            Kaede raised an eyebrow. "Ye did not find them then?" She asked. 

            InuYasha shook his head, for a brief moment, he arrogance in his smirk faded. "Nah…" He said. "Sesshoumaru's in control of Shinjuku now. He's moved into the old man's palace, and is calming the title of Overlord of the West." He idly kicked a stone around with his toe. "I couldn't even get in to Shinjuku. The most I could do was to get a connection inside, and hope for the best. As it is, I have a pretty big bounty out on me now." 

            Kaede nodded. "This seems odd." She said. "Your brother always seemed so set on killing you personally." 

            InuYasha grimaced. "Yeah, well, that's the problem." He said. "He wants me alive, and I don't even wanna know what Sesshoumaru's gonna do when he catches me." 

            Kaede shrugged. "Well, then, ye should go on to see Kagome. Ye should be safe there." 

            InuYasha nodded, and turned around again. "Right…" He agreed, and began to walk on down the path, towards another grove of trees. "Oh, and I'm layin' low for a while. If anyone asks, you never saw me." 

            Kaede wisely blinked and looked around. "Saw who?" She asked to nobody in particular. "I must be getting older than I thought. I'm starting to hear things." She turned around, and set off on the long journey across the village, back to her little hut. 

****

            "Kagome?" The voice was soft and warm, and accompanied by a soft, firm knock on the door. This probably said more about Kagome's mother than any words possibly could. 

            Kagome Higurashi, age sixteen, however, was not in the mood for anything having to do with being awake. She moaned angrily, and inversed her head to pillow relation, burying her head under the soft down of the white mass. 

            "Kagome…" He mothers voice came again, never losing its warm insistence. 

            Kagome opened one, bleary hazel eye, and moved some of her long, raven black hair out of her face. "Mfwaa time it?" She mumbled. 

            The doorknob rattled, and the door pushed in slightly. "Kagome, you really should get up. It's getting late, and you're friends are coming over to hear what's been going of these last few weeks." 

            Kagome suddenly sat bolt up, her eyes wide in horror. Oh, crap! She had completely forgotten! "Mom!" She practically yelled in panic. "Out! Now!"

            Mrs. Higurashi smiled, and walked out of the room, closing the door softly behind her. 

            Kagome tumbled out of bed all at once, trying to get out of her pajamas with one hand and gather some suitable clothes in the other, only managing to end up getting stuck lying on the floor with her top halfway over her head. 

            How on earth could she have forgotten? It was all InuYasha's fault! He was supposed to have shown up a full week ago! After he didn't, she had been so worried about him that she hadn't had time to think! 

            She succeeded in getting her pajamas off, and quickly grabbed a suitable outfit: a blue, long sleeved shirt and a knee length blue skirt. She quickly opened the door, and, taking a peek around the corner to make sure her kid brother Souta wasn't in the hallway, she dashed across the hall to the bathroom. 

            Oh, man! Oh, man! What was she gonna do? How could she have not thought of this sooner? It had been almost a month since she learned of her serious internal injuries, and she still hadn't found an excuse as to why on earth InuYasha had kidnapped her out of the present. 

            She quickly turned on the water, and inspected her face carefully as the water heated up. She had a rather round face, with wide, bright hazel eyes, a sunny complexion, and a normally happy disposition. 

            But now her face was marred with worry. She had to come up with an explanation and fast! A silver haired boy dashing in and kidnapping a girl who was going to die in two weeks, and then having her show up two days before her funeral perfectly all right was not normal. She had been able to dodge explaining stuff to her friends up until now, saying that she was still recovering, and had to rest, but now it was summer break, and she had no defenses. Plus, they'd be prowling for explanations much harder now, so she had just given up, and told them to come over today. Oh, man, what was she going to do? She couldn't possible tell them the truth! 

A smile cracked as she slipped into the shower, letting the warm water calm her slightly. She could just see what she's say. _"Oh, hey guys. Yeah, I actually went back in time to see an ancient dragon in order to save my life. So, what are you doing this Friday?"_

Her smile widened at that, but then dipped down to a frown again. She had to think of a good excuse, and fast. 

She finished her shower, and shut off the water. Grabbing a towel, and rubbing herself dry, she quickly got the clothes on the floor, and slipped them on. She opened the door to the bathroom, and dashed down the hall, her bare feet pitter-pattering on the hard wood floor. Maybe, if she got breakfast first, she could think of something. That was the first rule of academics, never miss breakfast. She sniffed the air, and grinned. Especially if that breakfast happens to be your mom's famous fried eggs. 

*****

InuYasha walked through the forest, looking around, taking comfort in the familiar place. His feet made no sound as they padded against the soft, lush grass of the forest floor. 

Off in the distance, there was a clearing. He knew without seeing it that there was an old, dusty, wooden well in it. He wasn't ready to go there yet, though. He turned to the left, and headed though the trees until he saw it. 

Towering above the rest of the forest was a titan, having been growing there for much longer than anything else that was living. It stretched up toward heaven, its thick branches grazing the sky, the emerald leaves shifting back and forth. He took an easy step, the vaulted, sailing up through the clean forest air into one of the lower branches. He leapt again, and then a third time, carrying himself to the topmost reaches of the tree. He looked up, his eyes narrowing as the amber beams of unadulterated light shone down at him. He smiled, and laughed lightly to himself, his shoulders bouncing up and down slightly with the motion. 

Memory was an odd thing. He had spent fifty years pinned to this tree. He thought he would have wanted to get as far away from it as possible. But now, now it was his solace. 

He gently stepped of the branch, falling back down through the branches, kicking off one every once in a while to avoid hitting everything, until he landed on the loamy earth. 

He turned around, and inspected the park on the tree. It was scratchy, heard, and uniform, save one patch. That patch seemed slightly discolored and unhealthy. In the center of that patch there was a tiny little hole. He strode up to the patch, and jammed a claw into the hole. He wiggled his finger slightly, until something fell out and landed lightly in his palm. He held it up, and inspected it carefully. It was a steel arrowhead. Looked at it a moment, then carefully put it back in the hole. He turned around again, casting on glance back at the tree, and walked away. 

*****

Kagome quickly shoveled a slice of fried egg into her mouth, her mind racing along with her jaw. What could she tell them? What to say? Maybe… he was a doctor. Yeah… that's it. Wait… no, InuYasha would never pass as a doctor, and why would she know a doctor like him anyway. Her friends weren't stupid… at least not Ayame anyway, but not even they would believe that. Maybe she could say he was a foreign spy… but then they'd go and call the cops, and that would be the end of any adventures in feudal Japan. 

She took a big sip out of her glass of orange juice, then spewed it all over the table as a sharp, eager knock planted on the door to the house. 

Kagome's mother calmly whipped some orange juice off her face, and turned to the soaked Souta. "Souta, would you get the door please." She asked, reaching for a napkin. 

Souta blinked, and nodded, grabbing a napkin for himself. 

He padded over to the door, his socked feet slipping slightly on the floor. He wiped his black hair and boyish face off, then opened the door. 

There was a sound like a cat getting stepped on, and three girls suddenly fell on the surprised Souta, crunching him in a titanic hug, Kagome looked over, and rolled her eyes. Just who she thought it was: Yuka, Eri, and Ayame. Souta screamed as they all fell on him with great cries of "Kagome!" 

Ayame, who was always the quickest of the three was the first to realize that the blushing boy that they were all hugging was not in fact Kagome, and stood up suddenly, her own face going beet red. 

Slowly, like water spreading through an oil soaked cloth, the others also had this revelation, and instantly stood up, leaving Souta in an embarrassed puddle on the ground. 

Kagome looked up from her breakfast and raised an eyebrow at her friends. They all had their hands clasped in front of their mouths, and tears in their eyes. 

_Great… _The thoughts sprang unbidden to Kagome's mind. _Here comes the hugging. _

"Kagome!" The overdramatic, tear-filled, happy cry sprang from all their mouths at the same time. Kagome got ready to stand up, and embrace them, but underestimated their speed. They were across the living room, into the kitchen, and flying through the air at high velocity before Kagome was even half way up. Kagome's eyes widened in panic as she realized the collision about to happen. 

*****

"Sorry…" Eri apologized, as Kagome slowly came to. She was sprawled out on the couch, and could feel the bump forming on her head almost immediately. 

"'s alright." She grumbled, sitting up, and holding her head as the world swam around her. 

"Erm…" Ayame said, sticking her head in-between Eri's and Yuka's, a habit that gave the three of them the look of a three headed monster. There was an awkward silence, and they all suddenly became increasingly interested in the floor. 

Finally, Yuka broke the silence by leaning forward. "So what happened?" She asked the question they were all thinking eagerly. 

Kagome blinked. "What happened where?" She asked, her voice completely monotone. Her head still hurt, and she was now in the mood to share the annoyance. 

Eri whined impatiently. "C'mon, Kagome!" She said, plopping down on the couch next to her. "Even the doctors at the hospital said that they couldn't save you." She said, edging closer, putting her face very close to Kagome's. "But then that silver haired guy walks in, steals you, and suddenly you're fine again? It's not possible!" She scowled, maybe an inch from Kagome's eyes. "Now 'fess up! What happened." 

Ayame smiled. "C'mon Kagome." She said, wheedling away at the defenses. "You can tell us…" 

"Actually she can't." Mrs. Higurashi's voice rang from the kitchen. She walked in, holding a bowl full of cookie batter. "Kagome, not a word." She said, her voice carrying authority. 

Kagome blinked, and gaped at her mother. What was she talking about? Kagome shrugged, and decided to just go with it. She smiled meagerly at her friends. "You heard her, I can't talk about it." 

She could see their faces wilt. "But why?" Eri pouted, her lower lip sticking out a little. 

Kagome put the cookie batter down on a pan, and walked over to the couch. "Listen girls." She said, her voice suddenly very serious. "Kagome is not allowed to talk about any of her treatments right now. Maybe you can hear more when the procedure becomes common practice…" Her eyes widened dramatically, and her hand jerked suddenly to her mouth as she saw the three girls eyes brighten. 

All three girls immediately jumped to the logical conclusion. They immediately turned around, and looked wide eyed at Kagome. "You went through an experimental procedure?" The demanded in unison. 

Kagome blinked, and looked up to her mom in respect. Was there nothing the woman couldn't do? In less than two seconds she had quelled all her problems. She smiled, and took up the play. "Umm." She said nervously, poking her fingers together, and looking at the floor. "My mom's right… I shouldn't talk about it…" 

Their eyes widened even further. "Was it painful? Are you okay now? Is that silver haired guy a scientist?" 

Kagome lived with Souta, who could spout of questions faster than reporters at a press conference. This was nothing. "Yes, Yes, and…" She paused at the last question. Much like reporters however, her friends jumped all over that. 

"He is, isn't he! And he's your boyfriend, too! I knew it!" Eri screamed, clapping her hands excitedly, her face caught up in a crazed ecstatic grin. 

"Now Kagome…" Kagome's mother said very sternly. "You promised the U.S. embassy that you wouldn't." Her hand slapped across her mouth at just the right time, again, and her eyes widened in face panic. 

Ayame, Yuka, and Eri looked from Kagome to her mother and back again quickly. "You…" the sputtered. "Went to America?" 

Kagome crossed her arms, and sniffed. "I can't say where I went." She said, then leaned forward intently, getting into the act. "Listen, you can't tell _anyone anything about this, okay? If you do, I could get in real trouble." _

            Yuka nodded, waving her hand innocently. "Of course…" she raised her eyebrows. "Of course, maybe you would like to get in a little trouble with your silver haired handsome…" 

            Kagome barely managed to stifle the blush. As if! 

            Eri laughed, and jabbed her in the ribs. "Yeah… how much 'trouble' have you gotten in with him." She demanded suggestively. 

            Mrs. Higurashi rolled her eyes, and left the girls to their conversation. Kagome could handle it from there. She went back into the kitchen, and began to scoop her cookie batter into little balls for baking. 

            Dimly, she could hear Kagome talking about how she couldn't say anything about American Governments. Very impressive. By tomorrow, everyone in her school will be wondering what secrets of the FBI she knew… which was perfect. She hummed a little ditty to herself as she expertly placed the cookies on the cookie sheet, and shoved them carefully into the oven.

            Well, then, now that that was done, she slipped upstairs, and casually walked into Kagome's room. It was a thorough mess, as usual. She reached down, picked up one of Kagome's blouses, and shook it out. Dirty, of course. She dumped it in the laundry hamper, and started to inspect a wadded up sock. 

If she was surprised when a heavy thump came from the roof, and the window to Kagome's room opened, she gave to hint of it. "You're late, you know." She said before the visitor could even say anything. She picked up another blouse, and threw it, along with the sock in the hamper.        

"Yeah… tell me about it." A gruff voice muttered from behind her. "How dead am I when she finds me?" 

Mrs. Higurashi turned around and shrugged. Sitting on the bed was InuYasha, his arms crossed across his chest. "Well, on a scale of one to ten, she's probably going to carve you're heart out with a rusty nail." 

InuYasha grimaced. He didn't quite know what a rust nail was, but it sounded very unpleasant. "So, I should get it over with do you think, or hid for a few years." He said, his voice getting glummer. He had really hoped for a joyous occasion to come home to.

Mrs. Higurashi shrugged. "I think some shock treatment is in order." She said and smiled. "You just stay here. She'll find you eventually." 

InuYasha grimaced again. "Can I have the window open, incase I need to run away?" 

Mrs. Higurashi shook her head. "But I will bring you up some cookies when their done. Don't come downstairs though. Kagome has friends over, and you might be a little hard to explain." 

InuYasha nodded, and sighed. "Damn." She said. "It feels good to be off the road and safe for a little while." 

Mrs. Higurashi nodded, and leaned down against Kagome's dressed. "Did you have any luck finding your friends?" 

InuYasha shook his head angrily. "No such luck. Couldn't even get to the place that I thought they were at." 

Mrs. Higurashi shrugged. "Well, I'm sorry to hear that. I'll bring you some cookies." She said, and walked out the door. 

InuYasha shook his head. If there was one thing this time apparently did right, it was mothers. He smiled. Kagome had better know how good of a mother she's got.

*****

            _My mother rules. Kagome thought happily as she waved her friends goodbye. She knew what was about to happen, of coarse. They would go out and tell everyone else, and the rumor would spread, and everyone would know that she went through experimental treatment at the hands of the U.S. FBI and that she had met the president, and that her boyfriend was a dangerous secret agent working for the Russian Mafia. _

            She turned around, and ran strait into the kitchen. "Mom, you're the best, she cried, giving her mother a huge hug, and a kiss on each cheek. 

            Mrs. Higurashi laughed, and patted her daughter on the back. "Very artfully played." She said. "You realize that you've subjected yourself to about a year or two of questions about the American government." 

            Kagome sighed. "Better than asking questions about feudal Japan." She muttered, and grabbed a cookie off a plate on the counter. 

            Mrs. Higurashi smile, and handed her the plate of cookies. "Here, take these up to your room, and give some to Souta." 

            Kagome nodded, and ran up the stairs, the plate of cookies carefully clutched in her hands. She made her way down the hallway, knocking on the door to Souta's room on the way to hers. "Souta, Cookies in my room." She said. 

            "All right!" She heard the voice yell from amid the destructive sound effects of the videogame he was playing. 

            She continued down the hallway, and pushed to door to her room open with her hip. She looked around, and scowled. Her room was clean; the blouses on the floor neatly put up, the bed made, and InuYasha sitting in the middle of the floor. 

            She growled, and put the cookies on a dresser, and rolled her eyes. "Mom…" She muttered to herself. "How many times do I have to tell you not to clean my room…" She grabbed a cookie, and began to gnaw on it. 

            Then her jaw stopped. Her eyes widened, and the pupils suddenly focused on InuYasha. He scowled at her, and pointed at the plate of cookies. "Hey!" He said arrogantly. "I'm hungry." 


	3. Shinjuku

            Here's the next chapter, so please enjoy it. Oh, and to  ;Don't worry about it. I'm glad that my writing is influencing yours, and giving you ideas. It means that the writing is good. 

Honestly, I got most of my Idea's for things that happen in my fics from millions of other little influences, from books, movies, and other fics. There's no real such thing as a truly original Idea. 

            The only thing I ask is that you don't blatantly copy me. You can use influences from my fic, and even some 

            Any who, here's your next chapter. 

*****

Over the heavy pavement of the courtyard, into the groaning well house, down the ancient, decaying well, out into a deep forest, across the new planted rice fields, through the grassy plains, in-between thick wood titans, out across the sandy beach, down the line where azure sky met sapphire waves, up to a small island, in the middle of a young forest: here stood Shinjuku. The city of youkai. 

            The walls were thick, white marble, and glistened in the sun. The parapets on top were high, decorative, deceptive. The gates were wide, tall, ornate, dangerous. Deep in the walls, heavy iron gates decayed into history. 

            Through the iron gates, past the crowds in the alabaster streets, through the streets, buildings, mansions, and palaces was a tomb. It held no body. The body was elsewhere, hidden in a black pearl. The memory, however, was here. So thick, so present, that one could have felt the specter's hand on his shoulder. 

            On top of the tomb was a monument. It was a statue, cut from solid, plain gray stone. It seemed out of place in the sparkling city. The statue depicted a youkai. A _tai _youkai. A lord among the nobles. His eyes were set straight forward, his head held aloft, his jaw set, his sharp features accentuated by the sharpness of the stone. His stance was proud, he stood tall, his back perpendicular to the ground. His feet were planted firmly on the earth, and his arms stood strait out in front of him. They came together and grasped at the hilts of two hard ornate steel katanas. His long hair framed his face, and tumbled down his back. He was dressed in battle armor: a chest and shoulder bar set on his shoulders, and his colorful yet deadly practical haori and hakama were tucked into the black bracers on his arms and legs. He oozed dignity and anyone who laid eyes on him found respect. 

            In front of the monument stood another youkai, this one not a statue. He was tall and lithe. He wore an ornate red and white haori with an equally ceremonious white hakama. Around his waist he wore a yellow sash. In the sash was a blade, the handle worn a haggard. Around one shoulder was a half guard bar, much like the statue wore. Around the other shoulder was a very large, ornate boa. The youkai's face was handsome and noble, his blue eyes flat and emotionless, revealing nothing. On his forehead was tattooed a blue crescent moon. Nobody had the heart to tell him that the boa looked like a big fuzzy python. 

There was a sudden scream from behind him, followed by a splash. 

His eyes closed. Nobody except for _her. _

            "Sesshoumaru-Sama!" A happy childlike voice rang out from the same direction the splash had come from. "Look, I caught a fish!" 

            The youkai shot one last glance at the statue, and then turned around. A few yards away, there was an ornate marble pond. There were a total of four around the statue, and each one was a home to a giant goldfish. In the pond he was looking at stood a girl. She was wearing a brightly colored kimono, with a large pink cherry blossom stuck in the ribbon. Her hair was long and black, with one shank of it tied up in a messy topknot. The youkai had tried many times to get her to comb it out, but he had no such luck. She remained resilient as ever. Currently she was very wet, and clutched in her arms was the pond's previous resident, thrashing madly. "Can I keep him, Sesshoumaru-Sama?" 

            Sesshoumaru blinked and closed his eyes, accentuating the purple striped tattoos on his cheeks. "You may keep the fish in the pond, Rin." He said, his voice a rich sonorous bass. 

            Rin nodded, and laughed as the fish finally managed to get away. "I'm gonna name him Se-maru, cause it sounds like your name, Sesshoumaru-Sama." 

            "I am flattered to have a goldfish names after me." Sesshoumaru said dryly, turning away from the pond, towards a long, white street. "Come, Rin. We are going home." 

            "Yes, milord!" Rin said happily, waving goodbye to Se-maru, and running to catch up with the tai youkai. 

            Sesshoumaru walked steadily, although walking could hardly describe his movement. If you were to pour liquid grace and calm into a youkai shaped mold, you would get Sesshoumaru. As he walked, his feet barely touched the ground. His footfalls never made even the slightest noise. His light, baggy clothing and the heavy boa added an ethereal light to him, and anyone who made eye contact stopped thinking that he was walking altogether. Sesshoumaru simply moved the rest of the universe around himself. 

            Rin caught up, and fell into pace beside him, taking two steps for every stride of his. She was a short girl, and he was very tall. She barely came up past his waist, not counting the topknot. Had he wanted to, he could simply have used her as an armrest. Her age in of itself, however, was a mystery. She was youthful, that was sure, but other than that he knew very little. He never bothered to find out, really, and he knew little of the years of humans. However, Sesshoumaru was curious, by his very nature. It was what had gotten his stuck with the girl in the first place. He had found her, mute, beaten and bruised. And he asked a simple question. He could still hear his voice. __

_            "Where did you get those bruises?"_

He asked a simple question. He looked down at the little girl at his side. He got a more complex answer than he could possibly have dreamed. Rin had in fact turned out to be a major asset, despite his early misgivings. She was young, small, and easily overlooked. And she _listened_. She seemed to have an unearthly talent for it. He had no doubt that he could ask her what the conversations that they had heard on the way over to the monument were, and she could tell him things that even he had overlooked. And she _obedient. She was not a slave. Slaves hated their masters, no matter how kind or cruel they were. It was part of instinct. They would bail out at the last minute. Soldiers, mercenaries, and bounty hunters. They all wanted pay, in some sort or another. Once they got their money, they were gone. But Rin… Rin would do whatever he told her to, no matter what. _

            But he still knew so little about her. He assumed she had been abused in the past, for when he had found her she wouldn't speak, and was covered in bruises. But other than that, he knew nothing. She could be anywhere from twelve to five, maybe even older if her growth was stunted from her past. And her mental state splayed all the way from infant to old philosopher. She felt no remorse about making a pet out of whatever crossed her fancy (this included about half the citizens of Shinjuku), yet she had easily the shrewdest mind he had come across next to his own. 

            His eyes traced suddenly to the side of the street. In fact most of the eyes on the street were guided there. It was quite a spectacle. 

            "Hey!" Remarked Rin, pointing. "There's Uncle Aaron!" 

            The character in question was very odd looking. He was tall, almost as tall as Sesshoumaru. He was exceptionally lanky as well, having a thin, easy looseness about him. His hair was blonde, and couldn't be described past that. The odd angles and curves that it flowed out from his head in really had no appropriate words. But what really caught (and blinded) the eye were his clothes. The clothes he wore seemed to come from a different world. He wore what almost looked like a haori, but it was open, not tucked in, and so long that it came down to his knees. It had no sleeves, and it had a huge sweeping collar that came almost level with the middle of his face. It was also bright, hot pink. His chest was bare under the odd coat, except for two belts strapped in an X across his athletic torso. There were three daggers on each of the belts. He wore normal Hakama pants… provided one overlooked the fact that they were bright, neon green, and clashed so horribly with the haori that a blind cave slug would scream in the mere presence of them. The hakama was held up with a length of rope. Tucked into the rope were three katanas, a rapier, and three pieces of wood that could be fitted together to form a quick spear or staff. Strapped across his back was a long naginata. He had bracers on both arms, and one shin. The foot with the bracer was bare, the other had a sandal. His hands were wrapped with fingerless gloves. 

Currently, the man was dancing. Or at least, it was called dancing. Sesshoumaru personally felt that 'dance' was not, despite contrary belief, synonymous with 'flailing all limbs wildly in all directions and hoping that you don't look silly.' He curved, contorted, and all around in general thrashed like a wounded trout. 

Slowly, he made his way over to one of the street vendors, and, still flailing, smiled at him. "Hey bud, I don't suppose you could help me out, huh?" 

The street vendor looked very nervous, and made sure not to make any sudden moves. He knew exactly who the man was: Aaron. But the thing on the front of his mind was not the man's name, but the fact that if he didn't help the man, he would probably end up with a knife in his face; Aaron was the most dangerous thing on the face of the planet. "Umm…" The vendor stuttered, his large ears drooping as doom approached. 

"Look, I'm looking for a couple of humans, and a kitsune. Have you seen them?" Aaron asked, doing a back flip. 

"Umm…" The shopkeeper started backing away. "I'm very sorry, sir, I've seen many kitsune's, but no humans." 

Aaron stopped dancing, and looked eagerly at him. "So you've seen a kitsune? Any really shrimpy ones? About yea high?" 

The shopkeeper swallowed, and shook his head slightly.

Aaron looked disappointed, then shook his head, and shrugged. Then he started dancing again. One of his flailing muscular limbs flung out a crashed into the youkai's face, sending him flying back into his cart. 

Sesshoumaru felt a light tap on his leg. He looked down. Rin was also dancing, a big smile on her face. She was frighteningly good at it. 

His eyes traced back to Aaron, and narrowed. Aaron had stopped dancing, and seemed to be noticing for the first time all the eyes starring at him. "Zounds!" He shouted, his voice a baritone, yet somehow carrying a slightly high pitched crazy edge. "I've been spotted!" 

He suddenly whirled into action throwing three of his knives into the alabaster walls across from him, leaping into the air at the same time. By the time he had landed, he had his staff parts out and assembled. He leapt again, caught the first knife with one end of the staff, pulled it up to the second one, then the third one, then proceeded to scale the rest of the wall with only his staff. He got to the top of the building, and was out of earshot almost instantly. 

            That was Aaron for you. He and Rin were the only official free humans in Shinjuku, although there were at least three more that Sesshoumaru knew about. He didn't do anything about them though. It was always good to have a little unrest in a city. It kept people on their toes. The rest of the humans were all slaves. Not by any particular malice on Sesshoumaru's part, but for the tradition of it. Sesshoumaru couldn't possibly change it at this point. More and more unrest. A little was good. A lot and you were in trouble. 

But Aaron… Aaron encompassed all the unrest he needed, along with almost everything else. Sesshoumaru didn't throw him out for one reason only: He probably couldn't if he tried. It irked Sesshoumaru to know a human (a species that while he did not despise, he did deem inferior) like Aaron existed. Aaron was odd. He had been around since his father's time, and had always looked like he did now… except his clothes were normally even more outrageous. He was one of the few people that managed to make Sesshoumaru feel uncomfortable. No human should be able to be older than Sesshoumaru, and still look the same age. And he was human. He was probably the most human person Sesshoumaru had met. The tai-youkai's nose didn't lie. He could even tell when someone was masking their scent, even my magic. Nothing fooled him. 

And now Aaron was asking about humans and a kitsune. He didn't like the sound of it. They sounded like InuYasha's friends. His bastard half brother was becoming a nuisance. He was headstrong and arrogant. But he also had a surprising cunning streak. It ran in the family. Sesshoumaru had put out a bounty on InuYasha's head, but perhaps that had been a mistake. Even InuYasha wouldn't be stupid enough to be caught willingly by the bounty hunters. He would be laying low. And the half dog could disappear very well. Maybe there was some connection with Aaron and the hanyou. 

            He kneeled down, and pulled Rin close. "Follow him, and find out what he's doing." He said simply. Rin nodded, and ran off, her arms flung out like and flapping frantically, attempting to see if she could fly any better than the last few times she tried. 

            Sesshoumaru stood up again, and continued down the street, not looking back. When he had first brought Rin here, a few youkai had thought she was just a free slave up for grabs. All the other youkai learned that she wasn't. The guilty ones didn't get a chance to learn. He had every confidence that she would be safe. And he also knew that by the end of the day he would know exactly what Aaron was up to. He had to keep Shinjuku safe after all. 

            He looked up, and cracked a rare smile as he walked. It wasn't a big smiled, simply a slight up curve of the lips. This was _his _city now. It wasn't his like it was his toy, or his possession. It was simply _his._ His father, the mighty InuTaisho, had been the leader of this city. He was the overlord of the west. And now… now it was his role. It was amazing how well he took to leadership. He looked up at the city, and even he, Sesshoumaru, felt pride. It was beautiful, truly, and utterly beautiful. In the sunrise, the city glowed like gold, and under moonlight, it was the purest silver. It was his child, just as it was his father's. 

            It was odd, but he seemed to be built for politics. His mind worked analytically, shrewd, considering any possibilities. Granted, he couldn't imagine himself making speeches, but in Shinjuku those were optional. 

            His smile disappeared, and he continued down the street. He had a meeting to attend. 

*****

            Rin ran down the street, occasionally skipping or jumping on one foot. She liked Uncle Aaron. He was funny. She could never tell why Sesshoumaru never laughed at him. She put her hand to her forehead, and looked up. She could barely make out the outline of the crazy guy jumping from rooftop to rooftop. She shrugged, and ran on ahead, her small size and fleet feet traveling along the seamless stone slabs effortlessly. She turned into the large central square, and briefly looked into the large pond where Se-maru lived. She reached in a stroked his head briefly, then took off in the other direction, running past the statue of InuTaisho, Sesshoumaru's father, and towards a little hole in-between two of the white buildings. It was a small little ally. One of the ones that respectable folk didn't know existed. Aaron wasn't respectable, and Rin couldn't pronounce the word yet. 

            She dashed in, and pulled the curtain that hung over the entrance inside. She was met with an odd smell. It wasn't terrible, but not really pleasant… at all. Okay, maybe a little terrible. Well, very terrible. But Rin didn't mind that much. She had been sent to spy on Aaron more than enough. She was used to it. She looked around the little area. There was a pile of clothes in the corner. She guessed that acted as Aaron's bed. But on all the walls were all the interesting things. There were axes, swords, spears, whips, and things that Rin was probably to young to know what did. 

            She shrugged, and sat down on the side the 'bed' and waited. It was maybe five minutes before Aaron showed up. He dropped down out of nowhere, landing right beside her. He showed no real surprise at her being there. "Heya, Rin." He said, not sitting down for more than three seconds. He was instantly up again, unsheathing random weapons from his rope and putting them back up on the wall. He swung the naginata over his shoulder, and tossed up to its holster ten feet up. It landed perfectly in the wood slots. He pulled the six daggers out of the belts without looking, and didn't even bother to put them into their sheaths.  They disappeared onto his clothes. _Somewhere._

            "So, 'sup eh Rin?" He asked, turning around. 

            She inspected a hand. "Sesshoumaru asked me to spy on you again." 

            "Really?" 

            "Yep." 

            They sat in silence for a while. 

            "So, why are you looking for humans? You know where they all are already." 

            Aaron nodded, "Yeah, but I'm lookin' for new ones. You haven't seen any, have you?"  

            Rin, blinked, then shook her head. "New humans in Shinjuku? I haven't heard of any. There were some new births, but they were mostly hanyou." 

            Aaron scrunched his face up. "Okay, I guess they haven't been here." 

            "They?" Rin prompted after a moment. 

            Aaron turned around again, and grabbed a broadsword off a rack, and began polishing it. "A little while ago, InuYasha stopped in, and asked for me to keep an eye out for some friends of his. He seems to think they might be coming here." 

            Rin thought for a moment. "It's that guy with the wind tunnel, isn't it? And the hunter girl." 

            Aaron sniffed, and nodded. "Yep, that's them. Apparently after all that scuffle a month ago, they got separated. But now they're trying to get back together. InuYasha thinks that they're still on the island." 

            Rin nodded, and stood up. "So, do you think InuYasha's still here?" She asked. 

            Aaron thought for a moment. "That rascal?" He asked. "Nah! InuYasha's getting too smart for that. The pup's starting to grow up. As soon as I told him Sesshoumaru had a bounty on him, then he hightailed it out of town. I wouldn't count on him being around again for a while." 

            Rin nodded, and thought for a moment, then leveled her gaze at Aaron. Her brown eyes were no longer as innocent as they were around Sesshoumaru. She had no doubt that her 'master' knew just how bright she was, but still, it was fun pretend to be totally innocent. Not that she was a cunning mastermind; she still rather enjoyed being a little girl, something that she was never allowed to be when she actually was a little girl, but still, she couldn't deny her naturally cunning mind. "So… why are you telling me this? If Sesshoumaru-Sama really wants InuYasha dead, you're really not helping any by telling me all these things." 

            Aaron shrugged, and put the broadsword back. "Honestly, I don't care what Sesshoumaru thinks about his brother, nor do I care if he knows what I'm doing. Sesshoumaru couldn't take me out even if he wanted to, and trust me, he knows it too."

            Rin shrugged. "If you say so… I think that he just likes you around because you give information away so easily. You'd best not get on his bad side." She cautioned. 

            Aaron chuckled. "Sure, whatever you say." He said, laughing lightly. 

            Rin shrugged, and turned around. "Well then, I'm off." 

            Aaron laughed slightly, and grabbed a long yari off another shelf, and began sharpening it. 

            "Oh, and you have to teach me how to dance like that sometime." Rin called out as she dashed out from between the long curtains, out into the streets of Shinjuku. She should tell Sesshoumaru about this. 

*****

            Sesshoumaru walked up the long stairs to his palace. He didn't like his palace very much. Neither had his father, or his grandfather. But his great grandfather had a taste for theatrics, and it showed. He was the one who had originally established the actual city of Shinjuku. Before then, the youkai had just lived there, always the strongest, because the dragons simply killed the weak. But then his Sesshoumaru's ancestors had come, and appealed to Vadise, the leader of the dragons to be able to stay. It wasn't an act of humility; it was an act of desperation. The dragons didn't like him, at all. However, he somehow managed to get them to let him start a city, and they even helped make it. Nowhere was that more evident than the palace. 

            It curved upwards and outwards in a monstrous blossom of marble spires, alabaster parapets, and granite walls. It wasn't ugly. In fact, it was quite beautiful. But it was so impractical. His ancestor lived for maybe a year after it was built, before he launched off to enslave the humans of Japan. He died at their inferior hands. 

            And so, from then on, humans were slaves in Shinjuku. And his grandfather, InuShinku, was left with a hulking, impractical palace. There could not have been two people more different than InuShinku and his father. While his father was old fashioned, and had a mass superiority complex, InuShinku was smart, cunning, and one of the best leaders ever known. He knew when to be harsh, when to be cruel, when to be fair, when to be kind, and when to be cunning. Even InuTaisho didn't compare. 

            Sesshoumaru hated the palace for the same reason: it was gaudy, grandiose, and unnecessary. It marred his city. But the dragons had spent time building it, and they took nothing of theirs lightly. And now, now he had to go pay their price for allowing his arrogant great-grandfather to settle here. So be it.


	4. Dark Dreams

            _The darkness was thick, like an oozing tide. It washed over her. She was falling through the darkness. It clung to her, dragging her down, clutching at her, clawing it her. She couldn't get out! She couldn't move. Her mouth opened and a scream ripped from her lips, loosing itself in the darkness. There were things all around her. She could hear them, getting closer, and closer. The sickening crunch of the things made her stomach churn and her eyes water. She couldn't see anything! Nothing!! She was blind! Where was everybody? _

            She let loose another scream, and started running, even while she was falling she ran, stumbling left and right. Her foot seemed to find traction on the air, and then hit something. She gasped, and started falling again, she tried to reach up, but couldn't even find out what up was anymore. She was falling into nothing. 

*****

            Sango opened her eyes. She didn't sit up and scream… some dreams are to horrifying for that. She lay silent, her lips clenched tightly shut, her eyes wide open in fear, and tears sliding lightly down the sides of her head into her hair. An occasional whimper escaped her throat. 

            There was stirring beside her, and slowly, someone sat up and looked at her. 

            It was a young man. He was tall, maybe six feet. His hair was ragged and relatively short, hanging in ragged locks down to the nape of his neck. He was dressed in a dark blue, loose fitting robe, with rips and tears running all down it. His figure under the robe was barely definable as trim, and athletic. On his feet he wore plain, wooden sandals. 

            He reached down with his left hand and stroked a tear off her cheek. "You had the dream again?" He asked gently. 

            "Hai… Houshi-Sama." She said softly, not moving at all. 

            He nodded, and stroked Sango's hair softly, awkwardly using his left hand. His right hand was heavily gloved. It was also maimed horribly, the fingers smashed and bruised, contorting at odd angles. The palm itself seemed to double over on itself. The wrist was wrapped with red-stained cloth. 

            "Could you still see nothing in the dream?" He asked pulling away from her, and rummaged around in his cloak. 

            Sango nodded again, swallowing heavily. She was feeling very hot. She probably had a fever. 

            The man found what he was looking for, and pulled it out. It was a small scroll, filled with runes. "This is a sutra warding off demons who attack dreams." He said. "It should help you sleep better." 

            Sango opened her eyes, and looked up at him. He looked odd, but then again, so did everything. One of her eyes didn't work. She nodded, and managed to crack a smile. "So…" She said softly, "You are some sort of monk after all. I was having doubts." 

            The man smiled back, and raised an eyebrow. "What made you think that?" He asked. Opening the sutra, and laid it on the thin cloak that covered her. He lifted his hands up, and attempted to make the appropriate sigil with his left hand, using the right as a base. It was difficult, but he finally managed to do it properly. He uttered the prayer, and the sutra vanished in a puff of flames. "There…" He said, relieved. "That should help." 

            Sango closed her eyes, and felt a cooling sensation wash over her. Almost immediately, she felt herself falling into sleep again. "Sleep well…" She heard the monk say softly. "We have to travel again in the morning." 

            Sango smiled, and snuggled deeper into the cloak. "Thank you… Miroku…" She said softly. The man didn't hear. 

*****

            "Please remind me again why we're doing this!" Yelled a very, very angry voice in Chinese. The yell echoed through the ancient forest like a gunshot, searing the brain above the infuriating buzz of the mosquitoes. The origin came from a hole in the gigantic, thick root system at the bottom of the forest. The trees themselves were ancient oaks, twisted, and dark. Their branches reached out like claws waiting to snatch the unwary traveler. It was not a welcoming place. 

            "Because we have to find Lord Menomaru!" Came the answer, also from the gigantic roots, and also in Chinese.

            "I mean," The first voice argued. "How do we know he's here? Couldn't he have, you know, moved out of the forest or something?" 

            "He was a tree up until a few months ago, remember? Gods, you can be so stupid!" 

            "Yeah, well, he is the mighty _lord_ Menomaru! Couldn't he have gotten out of the forest in those few months?" 

            "Do you dare mock Lord Menomaru?" Demanded the first voice, becoming shriller. "He is the reason you're alive right now!" 

            "I've got Mosquito bites under my armor, and I can't scratch them! I don't _want _to be alive right now!" 

            "Oh, come on! You and I both know you've dealt with things you can't scratch under your armor before! That's nothing new to you!" 

            "You just shaddap, _Shin_! You can't tell me that you're not pissed off to!" 

            The voice named Shin became very insulted, and much, much louder. "Well, maybe I'm just more LOYAL than you, _Oni!_" 

            "Well maybe you're just more stupider than I am!" the voice named Oni screeched. 

            Finally, one of the voices clambered up onto the top of one of the great roots. It belonged a Chinese woman. She had long, flowing light purple hair, and eyes to match. He face was that of a classic Chinese beauty, round and soft. Her skin was pale, and woven into her hair was a single, white lily. She wore traditional, purple Chinese armor, and strapped to her sides were two, short, curving swords. Her figure was slim, toned, and had a lithe beauty that most women would kill for. Unfortunately the face was marred with an awful scowl, her eyes were burning, and she was so exhausted that her normally pale face was starting to blotch. "Well, 'more stupider' isn't even grammatically correct, so who's more stupider now? Huh?" Her voice identified her as Shin. 

            About three hundred yards away, another figure clambered to the top of the massive, above ground root. She looked completely different from her partner. She had short blue hair, tied up into a tight topknot. Her eyes and armor were blue, like her hair, and strapped to her back was a wide-headed spear. Her face was tan, and angular. She had a scar on one cheek, and she was covered in insect bites. She hocked and spat on the root. "Oh, yeah, well at least I'm not a nerd!" She yelled at the top of her lungs. 

            Shin's eyes flared, and her lips tightened dangerously. "Well at least I don't smell like a horse! No wonder all the bugs are bothering you!" 

            Oni growled dangerously. "Oh, yeah, well… well…" She thought for a moment. "I know you are, but what am I?" She demanded. 

            "You're a stink head!" 

            "I know you are, but what am I?" 

            "A weenie breath!" 

            "I know you are, but what am I?" 

            "Fat!" 

            "I know you are, but what am I?" 

            "Big, stupid, ugly…" Shin broke off, her head trailing to the side. "Moth…" She breathed, a grin forming on her face. 

            "I know you are but what am…" Oni stopped and blinked. "Moth?" She asked, puzzled, "What do moths have to do with anything?" 

            "No, look!" Shin said excitedly, all previous anger forgotten. "I found a moth!" 

            Oni blinked, then gasped ecstatically. "Really?" She said, sprinting down the root. She crossed the three hundred yards in record time, and stopped right next to her companion. "Where?" She demanded. 

            Shin pointed eagerly. 

            Sure enough, there on one of the roots, was a moth. It was small, furry, and brown. In fact, it looked remarkably similar to any other moth on the face of the planet. But this one was in the forest that they were looking in.   
            "It must mean Menomaru-Sama is still here." Shin said, her mouth widening in a grin. "We need to hurry up and find him." 

            Oni nodded eagerly. "As soon as we have our powers back…" She said, leaving it hanging. 

            Shin nodded, and smiled evilly. One of the swords darted out of the sheath in her hand, and the moth was sliced neatly in two. 

*****

            Miroku awoke slowly. It had been a long, long night. Sango had woken up twice with nightmares, and had dragged him awake along with her. Even so, years of habit didn't die that easily. The sun was barely peaking above the sandy horizon. 

            They had been in the desert for so long now… they had been getting by via finding lucky water holes, and occasionally having to dig, but by all rights, they should have been dead long ago. He slowly looked around their little camp. It seemed that they had been wandering forever, but he knew that it had barely been a little less than a month. It was getting ridiculous. Every day, their destination loomed closer, but it seemed that they were getting nowhere by walking to it. 

            They were all beginning to lose hope. Ever since that battle, with the dragon Morkleb… they had been continually losing themselves. Sango was completely changed, although he didn't know how. She rarely spoke, and refused to say what was bothering her. She was troubled by constant nightmares, and refused to sleep anywhere but out in the open. She said that there were no shadows in the open. 

            His eyes lingered on the fallen youkai hunter, and wandered up and down her thoughtfully. And then there were her eyes. They were different. Before they were hazel, and tinged with sadness. Now they were dark. Not black, but dark. They were dead. They didn't reflect anything, and all the time the shadows around them seemed to get deeper and deeper. It looked almost as if she was blind, but she seemed to have no trouble seeing out of her good eye. And with her sudden change in character, he didn't know what to think. It was as if the deadness of her eyes was spreading throughout her body.   

He couldn't tell how injured he himself was. Morkleb had done something to his back, he knew. He couldn't feel his right leg, anymore, even though he could still move it, and he could feel his left leg going as well. He didn't want to think of how back he was going to end up either. He found that he wanted to think less and less these days. It made life easier. 

            His gaze slowly shifted over to his left, where curled up in the sand was a big bush fox-like tail. Attached to the tail was a small boy, sleeping soundly. He had pointed elfin ears, a dirty green smock, and tiny fox feet. It was odd. Shippo was the one they had always worried about being hurt, and now… now he was the only one uninjured. 

            He looked out across the rolling expanse of sand, glowing golden as the sun slowly rose above the dunes. His eyes rose to the line of green on the horizon that he knew was a forest. It seemed closer this morning than it had last night. 

            "Shippo…" He said, loudly enough to waken the kitsune. Slowly he rolled over, and opened his eyes. 

            "Hmmm…" He yawned. "Is it morning already?" 

            Miroku nodded, and gestured for him to come over. "We need to dig for water." He said. "We've got a long day ahead." 

            Shippo sighed, and stood up. "Oh, all right." He grumbled, and walked over to where Miroku was starting to pile sand away from the bottom of a dune. 

            "Did Sango have the dream again last night?" Shippo asked, as he plopped down, and began to help Miroku shovel away sand. 

            Miroku nodded. "We're going to let he sleep a little while longer." He said. "She's been having it the hardest." 

            Shippo nodded, and continued to gravely dig up the ever-shifting earth. 

*****

            "Here's another one!" Shin's voice called out. 

            "I found two!" 

            "Over there?" 

            "Yeah, c'mon! There's some sort of clearing up ahead. They're coming from there!" 

            Oni stood in-between two massive roots, and crossed her arms. IT wasn't thirty seconds later that Shin dropped down beside her, and looked up. "You think this is where they're coming from?" She demanded. 

            Oni nodded, and pointed. Strait ahead was a huge clearing. In the middle of the clearing was an enormous stump of a tree. Embedded in the stump was a giant white, glistening fang. 

            Shin's eyes gleamed, and her grin widened. 

            "Finally." She sighed, and began walking forward. She took a step into the clearing, and suddenly the air was filled with moths. They swarmed through the air, coming off the trees and the barren earth. Shin sighed as they flew against her, and continued walking until she finally reached the base of the shattered stump. Oni was only a step behind her. 

            They reached the stump, and slowly, both sank to a kneel. 

            They waited, until finally, their voice came to them. "So… you are finally here." 

            "Hai, Menomaru-Sama." Said one. 

            "You are tardy." The voice remarked. It was rich, smooth, and resonant. 

            "It was a grueling trip to Japan, milord." Shin said, her eyes downcast, her tone full of respect. "And the forest was large. It took us many months to find you." 

            "I see…" The voice said softly. By the fang, there was a light swish of a white cloak. "…Are my forces sensing the change in the air?" 

            "They are, milord." Oni said, her harsh voice meek and submissive. "We are the first of many to arrive. We are the trailblazers." 

            "Yes… and now you would have your reward, would you not?"

            The pair leaned even lower to the ground. "If it is your wish to bestow upon us, milord." Shin voice. "Then we would be pleased to receive your gift." 

            "Very well then."

            The wind suddenly kicked up, and the air was filled with the moths. Both women tensed, bowing even lower, shivering slightly. They looked up again; on each of their foreheads was a single, glowing, tear-shaped jewel. The wind died, and silence claimed the clearing again. 

            Both the women slowly arose, to unseen orders. Above on the top of the shattered wooden trunk there was a figure in a white cloak outlined in shadow. They looked up at him, and he looked back down. The jewels on their foreheads glowed a moment. Then they nodded. "Hai, Menomaru-Sama." They turned, and both dashed together off into the forest. 

            "And soon," The voice said, dripping satisfaction, "The accursed spawn of the Taisho clan shall be wiped from the slate of history."


	5. Afterlife

Okay, here's your next chapter. Please R&R.

*****

The sea was clear and blue, and the azure sky was broken by only a few clouds, drifting across the sky. The sun shone down merrily on the bounding waves. Skipping across those waves was a small ship. 

It was very small: a single deck, a tiny hold under the deck to hold supplies in, and a single mast. It was plain, varnished wood, except for a faux gold engraving on the side: _Banana Trading Co. No. 7. Any one who was new to the sea would call it a boat. Any true seaman would take one look at the captain, and call it a true ship, and one of the most grand. A vessel is determined by the captain, not the timber. _

Right now the captain of this vessel was standing on the cross mast, both booted feet planted firmly on the wood. One of his hands was stretched out and grabbed onto the mast for balance. The other was up to his brow, shading the eyes. He was standing strait and tall, commanding respect. 

His hair was long and back, kept in check with a ragged bandanna, and a torn triangle seaman's hat. The black hair was tied up in braids, and fastened with beads. A long white albatross feather fell across the side of his face. His skin was tan and calloused from too many days at sea.  His beard, like his hair, was tied up with beads. He wore a tanned, leather vest, with a wide leather belt, and breeches. His boots were thick and practical, and on his hands were fingerless gloves. 

On his left was a rapier, and on his right was a long, curving cutlass. 

He was heading across the sea for something he wanted more than life itself: Freedom. He was the Pirate Captain Morgan.

You wouldn't normally respect a pirate with a ship like the _Banana Trading Co. No. 7_ but at this point Captain Morgan really didn't care. He had his dignity… sort of. 

And he really hadn't had much of a choice, anyway. Everyone had known he was in town, save the Banana Trading Co., who were just coming in with a shipment. So… he had just borrowed it… without permission… without much intention of giving it back… until he found a better one… which could be awhile. 

He would really have rather had a ship with a better name. Something that screamed "Pirate!" Like… the _blood wake, or the __vengeance. But beggars can't be choosers. He would get a better boat soon, he was sure… but only a few options were open to him. _

There was stealing. That was out of the question. He had a bounty on his head throughout all of Europe and the new world, not to mention most of Africa. There wasn't a single decent vessel he could steal that wouldn't bring a very large amount people down on his head. He couldn't even steal a _bad ship. Even stealing this one brought down the English Navy on his tail. That had been awkward. _

Then there was having powerful friends. Dangerous, and difficult. Also out. Knowing people was largely pure chance, and being in the right place at the right time. No luck there. 

And that left the last. Honest work. Granted, he was making an honest living doing dishonest work. He was a pirate for hire. But then, he still had clients and contracts, and that made it feel dangerously like honest work. 

However, this job seemed different. He got the feeling that his client this time was a potential powerful friend. But it was also an odd job, and very easy. Take the client to Japan. Easy, right? It was always the easy jobs that got you dead. But then, he didn't have much of a choice about this either. Besides, he was either dead, or in the powerful friend's category. Either was better than honest work. 

*****

In every legend there is _the place: __Heaven… hell… Val Hallah… the underworld…_

In every story there is _the ruler: __YHWH… Lucifer… Thor… Hades…_

In every tale there is _the messenger: __Gabriel… Beelzebub… the valkaries… Charon…_

Nobody knows the truth. One is right. Maybe non are… maybe they all are… nobody knows… 

In every life, there is _The Lady…_

She does not run with war…

She does not lie in famine…

She does not lurk with plague…

She does not kill… 

She does not lurk in shadow…

All this is mere _fantasy._

_She _is _Real…_

The same sky that shone down on Captain Morgan also shone down on Japan. The sun glinted off the freshly planted rice paddies. Through the paddies ran a strait, dirt road with trees lining the sides off it.

Rattling down the road was a little cart, driven by a single ox. It was heavily laden with supplies. The top of a cart had a seat to sit on, but the driver was walking along beside the struggling ox, egging her on. 

"C'mon, girl…" The man said, scratching her behind the ears. "It's only a few more miles… you can do this." He urged, patting her shoulder. Despite his best encouragements, the ox still faltered, stumbling slightly. 

The man looked at the struggling ox for a little while, then sighed. "All right, girl, you win." He said, and went over to the cart. Carefully, he got out some of the things: two large bags of rice and a few quilts, and put them over his shoulders. He inverted his ox crook to substitute as a walking stick, and began plodding along beside the bovine. "I guess you and me'll be a little late to lord Gonza's, eh?" The man was a farmer, and every two or three months, he went to the local lord's palace to trade. But then again, it probably didn't matter if he was late. He had heard that the lord's daughter had just died, and he was in mourning. He probably didn't even care about supplies right now. The man couldn't stand that thought. He had a daughter the same age as the lord's daughter, and there were rumors of an odd disease spread my moths going around. What if the death and that was connected? He shuddered at the thought of loosing his daughter, or his wife. 

Something caught his eye, and he turned. Sitting under one of the trees on the side of the road was a young woman. She looked to be about twenty, and had raven black hair lankly framing her face and spilling down her back. Her skin was relatively pale, and her face had a smooth, serene expression. Her face was both sharp and soft in different places, giving off the oddest look of childlike innocence, yet sensual adulthood as well. She was dressed all in black: a long black cape tumbled down her back. Her top was a light tight, although not overly so, and attached together just to the left of her shapely chest, and the edges were embossed with gold trim. The collar was high, and the sleeves came down to her elbows before letting off in long, trailing gold-trimmed lengths to hang at her sides. The top came on down, through a loose fitting thick black belt, to form two gold trimmed bolts of cloth hanging loosely in the front and back. Under the top was a pair of black baggy pants, tucked into jet black greaves. She wore black socks, and sandals. Her wrists were clad with bracers the same material as the greaves, and black fingerless gloves hugged her hands. On the ground at her side was a long, knobbed stick made of a dark black wood. She looked up at him, smiled, and waved. 

The man looked down, sweating slightly, and managed to grin back. This load was getting heavy, and the ox was starting to fail again. There was no point in taking what you couldn't carry, and there was nothing to lose in being friendly. 

He held up a finger, for her to wait a minute, and unsoldered his pack. Going around to the back of the cart he began to dig around in it. Finally, he pulled out two large bags of rice, and wrapped them in a home made quilt. "Listen…" He said, his voice friendly, if wearied, as he walked back around. "My ox is struggling a little with the load, so would you mind taking some of this?" He asked hopefully. "You can take the quilt to carry it in…" 

The girl looked up at him. He noticed that her eyes were green, a very unusual color in Japan. She seemed genuinely surprised, and stood up. "You'd just give me food and a quilt, despite not knowing me?" She inquired. Her voice matched her face. Both adult and child at the same time. 

The man seemed taken aback. "Well, if you don't want it, I can take it along…" He said, feeling a little embarrassed. 

The girl stared at him for a moment, then a smile grew on her face, and her eyes narrowed happily. "No…" She said. "It's just that it is rare to see kindness so frank this day and age. Thank you." She said, taking the bags of rice, and setting them beside her pack. 

The farmer nodded, and waved at her. "If you don't have any place to stay," he said, picking back up his bags of rice, and his quilt, "You should go to lord Gonza's. He's morning the death of his daughter right now, but he is a kind man, and should give you a place to stay." 

The girl smiled at him, and nodded. "Thank you again." She said. 

The man smiled, and continued walking down the road, moving slowly. But the ox seemed much relieved. 

As they disappeared behind a bend in the road, the girl slowly stood up, and put the quilt with the rice in it over her shoulders. "How very rare." She murmured. Absently, still staring, she held out her hand. The ebony staff suddenly appeared in the waiting palm. "Very rare indeed." 

Ahead, the farmer was whistling an old tune his wife had taught him. He was tired, and sore, but it was still a nice day. No point in wasting it. His topknot bounced along like a little Russian dancer, and his step developed a spring. Ahead in the distance, he could see Lord Gonza's castle. But in front of that, a little black dot was steadily growing. It wasn't long before the dot come into focus. 

It was another woman, this one slightly younger. She was dressed in a white haori and red hakama, and carried a bow strapped across her back. Her hair was long and black and lush. It gently fell down her back, then was tied into a thick tie with white cloth, then on down to her hips. 

As they drew closer, he could see her face was sad, and her brown eyes downcast. Her features were sharp and compact. The sandals on her face dragged on the road. 

Well, there was no cure for the frowns like a big smile, his wife always said. He fixed a big grin, and nodded to her as the passed. 

It happened like lightning. The woman looked up. So did the ox. Their eyes met, and suddenly the ox reared. The farmer, surprised, fell backwards, and his eyes widened in horror as he saw the large bulk of the ox towered towards him. The scream that escaped his lips was short lived as the sound of snapping ribs echoed down the road. Everything went black. 

*****

The farmer awoke; he stood up, and shook his head, attempting unsuccessfully to clear it. He looked around trying to get his bearing. He hoped the ox was alright. It would be horrible if he couldn't make the delivery. His family depended on those supplies. 

Thank Gods! The ox was lying on the side of the road, chewing grass thoughtfully. No real damage. 

He turned around, and saw the woman. She was holding a glass vial of sacramental waters, identifying her as a priestess. That made sense. Probably a miko, as well, if she was carrying a bow and arrows. She was sprinkling the water over a bloody thing lying on the ground. Had someone died?

He rushed over to see what had happened, then starred as he passed through the woman. That was decidedly not normal. It couldn't possibly be… could it? 

He walked to the woman, slowly this time, and looked down. He lay on the ground, body snapped at an odd angle, and blood on his lips and face. The farmer looked up from his own body, and swallowed. _Ahhh…_ He said. His words sounded, but carried no substance. 

"hmm…" Said a smooth voice from behind him. He turned around. There was the girl from before, clad all in black. She was looking at him. Not through him, but _at him. "Interesting. It takes most people a long time to figure it out." She said simply, smiling at him. _

He swallowed. _I'm dead. He said simply… facing the fact. _

She nodded. "Was it as bad as you thought?" 

He blinked, and looked down at himself. His outline was beginning to fade. _Not really…_ He said. He looked towards the priestess. She was saying a prayer over his body. _Probably because I've been laid to proper rest. _

The woman snorted. "I've never really understood that." She said. "Having water sprinkled on your carcass doesn't really affect anything. Why do you humans always feel better after it's happened?" 

The man thought about this for a moment. It didn't make much sense now that he thought about it… He shrugged. 

The woman nodded. "That's what many say." She said. "So, any questions before you go?" 

The question 'go where?' instantly popped into his head. The woman's smile increased sardonically. 

The spirit looked at her, and smiled. _I don't suppose you could make sure that rice gets to Lord Gonza's? _He asked. _Just tell him to make sure that the stuff I get for it goes back to my family. _

The woman's eyes widened, and she smiled, this time warmly. "I'll make sure it happens." She said, patting him on a quickly disappearing shoulder. Thinking a moment, she took the rice off her shoulders and handed it to him. "You're normally not allowed to take anything with you, but you're hardly normal." 

The spirit shook its head. "Keep it." He said. "I heard you were a skeleton. I think you could use a good meal." His voice faded, and so did he. 

The woman blinked, and thought for a moment, and turned around, towards the ox. The priestess had finished her rights and set fire to the body, cremating it. She was moving on down the road. 

The woman walked over to the ox, and petted its head. Slowly, she willed herself visible again, a simple process. "Not normal at all." She murmured. 

*****

Okay, a few Author notes. I would like to give credit where credit is due. Both Morgan and Death are my characters, however, I give thanks to Pirates of the Caribbean  for Morgan, and Terry Pratchet for Death. Both were mainly inspired by those sources, along with a few others. however, they are not direct copies. They are in fact my own characters. 

Also, please, please, please review. I need reviews to keep going, so please, just take two minutes to leave your appreciation. Remember, Reviews + constructive criticism = inspiration = more quality = more writing = faster updates. 

Please, if you are reading this and not reviewing, please leave one. You don't even have to log in. just take a minute to review. It's not that long. Please… (Whimper… whimper…) 


	6. Ripples

Gah! Listen folks. I'm afraid I have an apology to make. I re-read my last chapter, after being informed of a certain thing by one of my favorite reviewers. At the end of last chapter, I made a pathetic plea for reviews. That did not come out like a wanted it too, and really probably hurt my dignity a bit. 

I had heard that some people were reading this fic, and not reviewing, and that really sort of annoyed me, plus I was feeling depressed. I men tot leave a little massage saying that "Please, if you read this, leave a comment on what you think." 

What it came out as was (through an odd mix of caffeine, depression, and a misconception of a review I received) this: "Oh, please! I'm so pathetic! I need reviews to keep going! Oh, pity poor me! Woe! Woe! (Etc. Etc.)" 

I gaurentee you that such an unprofessional mistake won't happen again. I wasn't really paying attention to what I was saying , towards the end there. 

However, on a more upbeat note, I got my first real constructive criticism on this fic (Thank you Time's Mortal Enemy). I know that the flow as of now is Kinda slow. However, I have eighteen main characters that I need to keep track of in chronological order, and I needed to introduce a few of them in the very beginning. The fact that as of now, they are not relating, probably adds to the problem a little bit. However, this is the last of the character introductions, and things should pick up a bit after this chapter. Please, just bear with me. 

*****

            This place was like no other in Japan. The trees were huge, but not so much that they were thick and tall, but they way they were shaped. They curved, and twisted, and weaved, and intertwined, and dived back into the ground, then came up again. One couldn't even tell what was root and what was branch. The leaves were thick, and spread out in giant, fanning frills. Vines grew so thickly over the trees, and disguised them so well that one couldn't even begin to tell where one tree ended and another began. The forest floor was almost completely covered by lush foliage. Flowers of all colors and shapes littered the floor, giving off a sweet aroma. Occasionally a loud call of some sort of animal would ring out, or a brightly colored, tropical bird would fly by.  

*****

            Five hundred years in the future, in a house next to an ancient tree, and an old tree, there was a smash of a plate shattering. It sounded remarkably like the sound of a plate of cookies thrown by an angry miko hitting the head of an arrogant hanyou at near fatal velocities. What the sound actually was would forever remain a mystery. 

            "Jeez, wench!" InuYasha's voice erupted from the upstairs window of the house, "Why the hell didja do that?" 

            Kagome's nostrils flared, and her eyes narrowed, fire burning in their hazel depths. She stood in the middle of the doorway, her arms crossed and her foot tapping. She had a very scary look on her face, with her head turned up so that she was looking at the hanyou through her bottom eyelashes. Her eyes looked like angry half moons. 

            InuYasha rubbed the forming bump on his hand and snatched a shattered cookie off the floor with the other. "Man, a guy comes back a little late, and almost gets his head looped off with a dinner plate! How's that for fair?" 

            Kagome' s foot began to tap more impatiently. "You're late…" She informed him, her voice heralding doom. 

            InuYasha blinked, and crossed his arms, "Well..." He said, his mind racing to come back with a witty comeback. "Umm…" He mumbled under his breath. He looked back up at Kagome. She was angry, he could tell. But there was concern there too. She had missed him. He grinned, his mouth splitting his face in a cocky, arrogant expression. "So… I guess you missed me a bit more than I thought you would." 

            Kagome's angry face faded just a little at that. 

            "Jeez, I woulda thought that you'd be happy to work on all those test things that you love so much." 

            Kagome's face crumpled just a little more. She took a big breath. Keep angry! Keep angry! Anger was the only thing protecting her from the tears that hid just behind her eyes. The stupid hanyou! He had been late by almost a week, and in the warring states era! What was she supposed to think? The first days she had waited for him each morning by the well. But no! He hadn't come! For almost a week, he hadn't shown up. How could he do that to her? Didn't he realize how worried she'd been? Her face tightened as she felt the anger coming back, but it wasn't enough now to stop the tears.   
            InuYasha blinked as he saw tears starting to fall down her cheeks. Her face was turning from the fiery red of anger to the blotchy, pinkish, blush of confusion. "Oh, c'mon!" He said, "I wasn't gone that long! Don't tell me your gonna turn on the water works for a lousy week!" 

            Her eyes widened, and suddenly she threw herself into his arms. InuYasha blinked as he suddenly felt the shoulder of his outer haori become wet with tears. 

            "A month ago, I only had a week to live, InuYasha." His sensitive ears heard her say softly, between sob-less tears. "It's a life time for me." 

            Awkwardly, InuYasha reached up and patted her head with clawed hands. "Hey, now." He said. "I'm sorry for making you worry, okay." She lifted her head from his shoulder, and sniffed. He smiled, and knuckled away one of her tears. "C'mon, the Kagome I know held off her own death for more than a week just by her power alone! She wouldn't cry just like this." 

"Sorry!" She said, trying to stop the flow of tears. "You were late, and I knew things were dangerous back then, and-" She said, beginning to get worked up again. 

            InuYasha rolled his eyes. "Jeez, you really are too sentimental. I said I'm sorry right." 

            Kagome looked at him, and laughed softly, a weak sound. 

            InuYasha stared at her. "What?" he demanded. 

            She smiled at him. "That's the first time you've actually apologized to me up front like that." She said. "I think you've grown up a little." 

            InuYasha scowled, and crossed his arms. "Oh, I think you're growing up, InuYasha!" He said in a high, squeaky girly voice. "Jeez, this coming from someone who cries when her friends are a little late." 

            Kagome crossed her arms back at him, and pursed her lips. She looked ridiculous with a tear-stained face. 

            "Umm…" A new voice came from the door. Both heads swiveled, and the eyes turned on Souta, his hair short and messy, and his face round and boyish. "Kagome said she had cookies." He said, blushing slightly. 

*****

            Deep in the forest, there was a little, clear spring. There was a high, bubbly laugh ringing through it. Sitting near the shore was a girl. She was clad in all white; a pure, satiny, silky white. It hugged her body in loose, easy folds. She was smiling, and letting her feet dangle into the water. The pool was clear, and one could see strait to the bottom… save in the middle. 

            In the middle, the water was opaque. On it was a faint image. It was the waving outline of a well. A silver haired man approached the well, and, looking around carefully, leapt down it. 

            The girls grin widened. She had tiny little fangs in her mouth. "So… the events are set in motion." She said. Her voice was high, although not grating. It was the voice of a little girl. Her hair was white at the roots, and tapered down to a light sky blue as it reached the tips, hanging in wild, unruly spikes and strands at her shoulders. 

            On the top of her head rested two snowy, white catlike ears. One of the twitched as she stood up. Her skin was tan, with brown strips all over. They ran down her legs, across her clawed feet and hands, and lastly, black stripes down her white, catlike tail. 

            She dusted her dirty knees off, and, kicking a rock through the thick, lush grass, walked away from the spring. 

*****

            Sesshoumaru walked through the long, alabaster halls, his face illuminated by the bright torches. He could feel the forces gathering already, anticipating the meeting. What ridiculous things would they discuss this month? He could hardly wait to waste his time. 

            He stopped, and turned, facing a huge, double door. Sighing, he reached forth his hand, and pushed at the seam between the doors. The flowed in effortlessly. Silently. 

            Inside the door was a long, wide dining hall. It was lit by a single torch in the middle, casting the entire room in eerie shadows. Very melodramatic, in Sesshoumaru's opinion. 

            "I am here, as par requirement." He announced, his voice betraying nothing. 

            There were figures surrounding the table. Three in all. One of them leaned forward. Her face was a mere outline against the flickering light. Her nose was sharp, her face small and youthful, her smile arrogant. Her eyes and hair were crimson. Her ears were long, and a short ivory horn adorned her forehead. "Come in, Sesshoumaru-Sama." She said, her voice light, girlish, but sensual. "We have much to talk about." 

            "I'm sure." Sesshoumaru said, walking in nonchalantly. 

            "She is right, you know." Said another voice. "There are serious matters at hand." This one was masculine, low and deep. He did not lean dramatically forward, but stayed in the shade. The torchlight revealed only the outline of a stern, black bearded face, and long, wavy hair. "More serious than normal." 

            Sesshoumaru strode to his seat, at the foot of the table. "I believe you took an hour of my time on the migratory patterns of salmon, last time we met. I would hope that this is more important." 

            The young girl on the right of the table glared at him. "I happen to like salmon. On bread." Her face turned sort of sheepish for a moment, then resumed its normal complexion. "But that is not the point. We built this castle for your family, Sesshoumaru-Sama." She made 'sama' sound like a joke. "All we want in payment is someone to talk to, about whatever crosses out minds. It's a bargain for this palace." 

            "Yes." Sesshoumaru agreed dryly, sitting down. "You spend almost no effort making it, and get several generations of servitude in exchange. Quite a steal." 

            "Blame your ancestry. Not us." Said the man on his left, his voice stern, but guiding. "But this session is different. We have something important to discuss." 

            "Oh, yes." Sesshoumaru said, managing to make his voice sarcastic despite the monotone. "We are now studying the migrations of the horse-shoe crabs, are we now." 

            "I like crab too." The girl on his right chipped in.

            "No…" Said the man. "We are actually looking at Dragons today." 

            Sesshoumaru's eyebrows raised almost imperceptibly. "Dragons?" 

            The figure at the head of the table stirred. The was the sound of a rustling cloak, and the leathery sound like the beat of wings, and in the shadow, Sesshoumaru could make out the shine of fangs in the figure's grinning, malevolent mouth. "_A dragon actually." Came the smooth, liquid voice. "One whom you should be very familiar with. Do you remember the name Ryuukotsutsei?" _

For a brief instant, Sesshoumaru's eyes glowed a deep, crimson red. His hand, resting flat on the table, clenched. There was the snap of splintering wood, and Sesshoumaru's fist came up, a large chunk of the table with it, obscuring his face. "I know the name." He whispered. 

*****

            The girl walked through the forest slowly, enjoying the fresh breeze that permeated from between the trees, and the green-filtered sunlight that shone through the thick canopy. 

            The grass was long, despite not having much sunlight, and tickled her bare feet as she walked. Her ears twitched slightly, as an unusual flurry of loud chirps from the local birds caught up with her. 

            Her lips turned up in a closed smile, and she scratched at the nape of her neck happily. "And once the events are set, then the rest follows like lightning. The times are changing." She said simply, talking to no one. 

            With all the time in the world, she slowly ambled away through the grass, sauntering indirectly towards the center of the glade. 

*****

            The mountain range was closer today, but it offered no comfort. Miroku's sharp eyes etched out the line where the snow settled on the mountains. It was dangerously close to the desert floor. And that made no sense. Things shouldn't behave like that. This was all wrong. 

            Suddenly, he felt where the feeling broke off in his right hip tingle, and he fell forward, face first into the sand. For once he was glad he couldn't fell. It probably hurt. 

            "Miroku!" Shippo's childlike voice rang out. "Are you  alright?" 

            Miroku groaned, and pushed himself onto his back with his good hand. "My leg just gave out." He said simply. 

Shippo grimaced. "Do you think you can still walk?" He demanded. 

Miroku leaned forward, and felt at his leg. "I can try." He muttered, and slowly tried to stand up. He landed again on his side, hard, wincing from a new pain, this time in his ribs. 

Shippo's grimace even increased. Miroku looked at him, and saw the tears brimming in his eyes. It was reasonable, he supposed. The little kitsune had been though so much. And was still going. It was almost admirable. "So…" He asked, his voice wavering. "What are we gonna do now?" Miroku would have smiled. Shippo was acting mature and practical. Invaluable qualities right now. 

"I want you to…" He was cut off suddenly as Sango's hand suddenly latched on to the back of his collar, and he suddenly felt himself lifted up off his feet. He gasped as he was placed firmly over her shoulder, and the youkai exterminator continued walking. The monk was about to protest, when he saw that in her hand was a tiny shard of bone: a part of the original Hiraikotsu. He had lifted it once, and it was almost heavy as he was. Practicality took over his sympathy for Sango, and he said nothing. 

            Briefly, he caught a profile of her face. It still retained its lovely shape: round cheeks, a sharp nose, and beautiful lips. But it was dirty, and scraped, and bruised. Her hair, which used to be long, and lustrous, was now short, frayed, and burnt at the ends. And her eyes were dark, and dead. Her lips were down turned in a hopeless frown. Miroku wondered of there was any way they could go back to the way they were before. Was there anything he could do to bring the old times back? 

            Out of respect for memory, his hand wondered down the small of her back, and came to ret on the top of a sensitive area. 

            It might have been a mistake, when Sango stumbled. It might have been a mistake when she fell, and twisted. It might have been a mistake when her shoulder hit his face. But after they had gotten up again, if only for the briefest moment, he saw Sango's eyebrows twitch amusedly over her emotionless eyes, and the down turned corners of her mouth tug up, for just a moment. One point for Sango.

*****

            The girl stood at the edge of a drop off. She stood by a river that flowed off the cliff into a pool fifty some feet below. Almost nonchalantly, she took another step, and fell, her arms stretching out, and her hair rushing around her head. She landed on the water in a crouch. There was a slight ripple, but it was drowned in the spray of the waterfall. "And when the times change, so do people. They grow together, and grow apart." She told the waterfall with great gusto. "There is no such thing as an eternal happiness, but sadness is fleeting too." 

            She shivered slightly, catlike, cascading droplets of water casually. The light, almost silky layer of fur that covered her entire body poofing ever so slightly. She walked casually across the surface to the shore, and yawned as her feet planted on dry ground. Sitting on a rock off to her left was a small, striped cat-like creature. Its body was catlike, but a thick mane covered its neck. Its fur was black and white, and its eyes were oversized and red. Briefly, the girl nodded to it, saying something beyond words. The cat nodded back, and launched itself lightening fast into the woods. 

*****

            The castle of lord Gonza was bustling with activity. Tonight was the burial service for the Lord's daughter. Luckily, a shipment of supplies had come in the night before, driven by a girl robed all in black. When questioned, she said that the farmer who normally drove the cattle had been postponed, and had asked her to make the delivery for him. She also said that the Lord was to make sure that the proper payment was to go to the man's family. She said some very bad things would happen if this did not occur. 

            And so, she had spent the night, and the supplies were put to use for the preparations for the cremation. In the morning, the girl in black was missing from her room. 

            In the young lady's room she lay, growing cold. The room was not lit at all, and deep in the shadows, one could just barely make out the look of dark clothes, and a small bit of pale skin. 

            There was something wrong. The flow of souls was not as it should have been, and it was causing very large problems. That was why _She _was here. _She_ only actually interfered when there was a problem. And the problem was about to reveal itself. 

            Slowly, the body of the young princess lifted off the ground, her arms hanging limply at her sides. 

            "That's interesting." The woman in black commented, her black eyes focusing more on the spectacle. 

            The body of the princess glowed blue, just a light aura, and the something came out of her. To normal eyes, it would have looked like an orb of glowing light. To the black eyes that watched, it was yet another copy of the princess, her face warped in agony. 

            "Very interesting." 

            There was a rush, and something darted through the wall, into the room. It was long, and white. Its head looked snakelike, and it had six, skeletal legs sticking out of it. 

            Like lightening, it fastened it claws into the back of the girl's soul. The spirit's face stretching in pain. And as quickly as it had appeared, the thing was gone. 

            The woman in black rose from her hiding place. Her face was scrunched up in a snarl, and her eyebrows creased down in an angry 'V'. 

            "_How dare they?" She demanded, his voice taking on an inhumane dissonance. "_This is not natural._" She shoved one hand out in a grip, and clenched it. The ebony staff appeared in it, and she slammed it on the floor. Where it touched, the wood floor shrunk, and tiny cracks ran through it. Like a creeping snake, darkness swirled up her legs, and across her body, like black fire. Death was not to be toyed with. _

*****

            Slowly, the girl walked towards the center of the forest. In the distance was a willow. It was huge, towering even over the titanic trees around her. Its branches shot out, then slunk down, brushing against the ground, creating a complete barrier against the rest of the world. 

            The heart of the forest lay there. 

            A sudden gust of wind flashed through the trees, blowing her hair and her clothing. There were whispered in the wind. The girl looked up again. For one of the few times in her life, she seemed rather surprised. She chuckled slightly, then threw her head back in a laugh. "And change always brings surprise." She mused to herself, shaking her head as she walked. "Time brings change, change brings surprise, and surprise lends mystery." She laughed, and walked towards the willow, a bit faster now. 

*****

            Captain Morgan was looking down at the cold water. He was staring intently, and his hat was off in respect. He was, after all, speaking to his client. 

            "So, where exactly in Japan did ya want to go?" He asked, in his gruff, salty voice. 

            Slowly the words appeared in his head. _It is a small island off the east coast._ The voice said. _You will see it soon. The voice had no characteristics. It was his own thoughts, manipulated. _

            "Well, if you know where it is, then why do you need to drag me along?" 

            _For cover. The words in his head said patiently. _I am not exactly welcome there. And besides, your reputation precedes you. You might be useful. __

            Captain Morgan snorted. "So, you don't just need me to take you to Japan, eh?" 

            _Take? Look around you. Who is taking who? _

Morgan looked around. His sails were tied up tight across the crossbar, and there were no ores. Yet the ship was practically flying across the water, going upward of forty knots. The fore anchor was dragged at high tension into the water in front of him. He swallowed, and stared down into the water again. Was it just him, or did her see a long, serpentine shadow deep down below? 

            "I see your point." He said, hating it. "So what is my real job?" 

            _Exactly what I told you. You must simply go with me to __Japan__. Then you are free. _

            "And I get my pay?" 

            _After I get finished with my job. The voice added. _

            "Your job?" 

            _I need to go to __Japan__. Something must be done, and I need to help in any way I can. Something is brewing. _

"And let me guess. Your probably going to die." Morgan said dryly. 

            _Bingo_

"Leaving me with no pay."

            _Yes. _

"Unless I happened to follow you around and protect you." 

            _It probably wouldn't do much good. The voice reasoned. _But you're welcome to try. __

"And I'll probably die too." 

            _Yes._

"You don't beat around the bush much do you?" 

            _No. _

"How fun." Morgan observed. "So, what was my pay again?" 

            _I have no Idea. Seeing as how you probably won't get it unless you stick around, I was planning on choosing after I had gotten to know you._

            "Joy." Morgan said. 

            _Look, I can see it. The voice said, the thought accompanied by a jerk that brought his head up. He could see a line on the horizon. Slowly, he brought out a spy-glass, and brought it to his eye. He could see land. But more importantly, he could see the city. It shone out, etched in white alabaster and marble and granite. Big regal city, re-negotiable contract, no guarantee of any reward, chance of death: high, and a client who was simply a voice in his head. A complete suicide mission._

            Morgan smiled. "Bring it on." He said. 

*****

            "Change gives birth to dreams." The girl said, standing before the veritable wall of willow boughs. "And dreams drive people through the change. Through the hurt. Through the Happy. Through the mystery. Through the surprise."

            She closed her eyes, and stepped through the willow boughs. "And through the dark." He whisper echoed. 

*****

            Oni and Shin were out of the forest, speeding across the plains of rice growing up through the shallow lakes. Their feet barely touched the ground as they ran, flashing fleetly through the terrain. They now had a goal. A quest. The must find the fangs that could break the enchantment. The accursed fangs of Taisho. 

*****

            Under the thick canopy of the boughs, there was a dim, blue light. It didn't come from anywhere. It simply, existed. 

            Surrounding the monstrous trunk of the willow was a small pond, stretching in a ring around the base of the tree. It was perfectly serene, not moving at all. The air here was completely still. 

            Vadise looked up, and smiled. Falling from the roof of the cavern was a single drop of water. In the middle of the drop was a small, image of a silver haired man. It fell down, then hit the surface of the pond, sending ripples out in a perfect sphere. 

            Another drop fell, this one bearing the image of a young woman in a green, pleated skirt. It fell near the first, creating ripples of its own, mixing with those already running across the surface. 

            Another fell, this one bearing a small girl with a gnarled topknot. 

            And another, this one bearing a tall, noble, silver haired youkai. 

            A blonde man, wielding many weapons and dancing wildly. 

            A scarred girl, her eyes dead. 

            A broken monk, with a broken hand. 

            A sadden Kitsune, older than his age. 

            Two amazons, running fleetly. 

            A tall tree, that became a man. 

            A lady in black, who never rests. 

            A seafaring pirate, with an attraction to danger. 

            A voice from beneath the waves. 

            A tiger striped cat, with fiery spirit.

            A trio of dragons, ancient, and wise. 

            Alone, the ripples swiftly fade. But ripples in the right places make waves. And waves kept going. 

            Slowly, the girl walked over to the pond, and leaned down. "And then a single wave in the right place can make a tide." One of her clawed fingers dipped into the water, and her own ripples spread out. 

            "And the tide is always changing."


	7. New Faces

            Yeesh! Soory it's been so long! I just got over a nasty bout of strep throat, and being sick always kills my muse. Literally. I had to go bury him. I made him a little cross and everything in the backyard. But he's alive again, so things are better now. Anywho, this chapter ended up being longer than I planned, but hey, you guys don't mind that, do you? Hehe, enjoy. 

Time's Mortal Enemy: Thankee thankee for the kind words. I do in fact remember Kohaku; however, he does not show up for another couple chapters. Sadly, he will not be having a huge roll in this fic, but he will have a few bits. His big thing is in the ending of the trilogy. (Yes, this is gonna be a trilogy.) 

            And I did put Inu and Kag in the drops they were at the very beginning. The man with silver hair and the girl in the green pleated skirt. Sorry if I wasn't specific enough. I thought I was… oh well, it's already posted. 

            Jessica: Thank you so much for all the happiness you have piled upon me. You almost make the strep-throat go away! Don't worry, I'm gonna keep on taking things at my own pace. I was just warning people that I'm trying to keep my characters rich, and realistic, and that takes a little time. I need to weave them together in a realistic way, and that'll take a little doing. I don't think this fic is going to necessarily be slow, but very jumping around. I have lots of characters, in lots of different places, trying to address them in chronological order. So, the likelihood of the same characters being addressed in two chapters in a row in the beginning is unlikely. But please, bear with me. I've got it all worked out, and it all works. Thanks a bunch! 

            Shadow of Reality: Whoa! Thank you so much! That's the first time anyone's ever asked me that online, and I take it as a full compliment! Before I tell you my reasons for writing fan fiction, I would like to make something clear: I _do write original stuff. I do quite a bit. However, non of it is online. Part of the reason non of it is online is that I, personally, do not think that I am skilled enough. I know many out there would differ, but when I start posting my original stuff, I want to be real, real, top quality! At the top of my game. The other part, is that I'm committed to this story right now, and it wouldn't feel right to me to just abandon it. NO matter what my skill is right now, if I had just started doing original stuff, I would have been crushed. However, thanks to fan fiction, I managed to start pretty well, with the help of some vastly superior writers (Saro, Saro, and… Saro) and get lots of good tips. However, I couldn't just leave this story hanging. I've gotta finish it! _

            Now, three reasons I write fan fiction: 

1. I really enjoy it. I'm sorry, but writing fan fiction is just plain fun. I have had so much fun writing over this past year or so that I doubt I could ever stop. Even if I become a published author (Which I hope to do someday) I will still, probably write fan fiction. 

2. To build skill. I know, you already think I'm skilled enough, but I don't. As for why fan fiction? Well, I have plenty of practice writing original stuff, but fan fiction makes you work on a few other things. For instance, it makes you work on keeping people in character. I do, in fact, have great amounts of trouble with this, even with my original characters. I personally hated the way I wrote Atma at the end of Two Weeks. She wasn't how I wanted her to be at all. She was way to… good. I wanted her to be nice… but still kind of evil, if you know what I mean. 

3. And lastly, I wanted to try out some Ideas I've had for original stuff, to see what people thought of them, in the context of a real story. For instance, all of Vadise's dialogue in 'ripples' was something I was planning to use elsewhere. However, I thought it might be too over-dramatic and sappy. You've quelled my fears on that, tough. Also, I try out characters. All my original characters are loosely based on people I want to use in my original stuff. However, I want all their kinks to be worked out before I get there, so I use them here, so when I use the characters that they are based on, then I can have those characters down pat. 

Also, no self respecting publishing company is going to publish something by a junior in high school. 

            Orion: Thank you very much for the kind words! I tried to make the last chapter slightly poetic. It worked well with the philosophy. 

Any who, I've yakked for more than a page, so here's the good stuff!

*****

            . InuYasha was warm. This was very odd, because InuYasha could count on one hand the number of times in his life that he had been warm. He had been hot before. He had been cold, he had been freezing, he had been burning, but warm was something totally different. Warm wasn't just a temperature, it was a state of being. It was waking up on a cold winters morning, with three quilts, and being in that lovely fog when you didn't think about what happened yesterday, or what you had to do today, but you simply sat, not thinking of anything, but rolled in that gray area between sleep and awake for what seemed like hours

            As the hanyou slowly faded from warmth to awake, his nose became awake. He was lying in Kagome's room. The scent of Kagome was all around him, permeating every surface. It was spicy, with a slight hint of flowers, and everything else that was nice in the world. InuYasha wished that she wouldn't try to disguise her scent with all those shampoos and soaps and stuff. They blocked out her scent. It was heavy and sweet, like a thick honey, spilling through the air. 

            His amber eyes slowly opened, and he looked down. He was lying on the floor of Kagome's room. He could remember stubbornly refusing to sleep anywhere else, despite Grandpa's screaming curses and scrolls. Kagome hadn't been in much of a mood to resist. 

            The thick blanket that normally adorned Kagome's bed was draped across his shoulders. That hadn't been last night. Kagome must've gotten up already, and lent it to him. He pulled it to his face, inhaling slightly, and smiled. 

            There was a laugh from the door, and InuYasha turned suddenly, his face caught in a gape between outrage and panic. Souta stood in the doorway, his pajamas still on. His was stifling laughter. "Kagome told me to wake you up for breakfast." He said between chuckles. "But if you want, I could give you five minutes." 

            InuYasha's expression quickly settled to a dark, cloudy, threatening scowl. 

*****

            Kagome sighed. She was tired, and a little annoyed. Breakfast had gone well, she supposed, but it wasn't the magical thing she had wanted. She had imagined a wonderful little scene, where she worked all morning to make breakfast and InuYasha came down, and everyone sat down together, and enjoyed, and at the end everyone would say: "Thank you Kagome!" 

            She looked down at the sink of dirty dishes in front of her. She must have been on crack. Souta had naturally ignored the pancakes, and sausage, and even the eggs, and gone for some coco puffs. Grandpa had had a nice helping of pills, and a single half of a small pancake. Her mother had been nice, and even helped her clear the table. And InuYasha… Her eyebrows furrowed, and her hand clenched under the soapy water. "Baka…" She muttered under her breath, stealing a glance at him. He had eaten almost everything, demanded some ramen, and then fallen a sleep in his chair. She scrubbed a plate, nursing her foul mood. She had waken up early to make breakfast, too.

            She finished the plates and moved on the cups. She finished the first, and held it up to the light, looking for spots. A clawed hand reached out from the edges of her vision, and grasped the cup firmly. "Stupid humans." InuYasha's voice whispered, just behind her. 

            Kagome gasped, and blushed slightly, letting the glass be taken out of her grasp. 

            "Always working on such stupid stuff." 

            Kagome turned around suddenly, backing up against the counter. "InuYasha." She said, reaching for the glass. 

            The hanyou stood lazily just in front of her, looking at the glass. "Looks clean to me." He grumbled. "Why do you always work on this crap?" 

            Kagome crossed her arms. "Because people in this time actually like to have clean stuff." She said severely. "Maybe you should learn something from it?" 

            InuYasha stared at her a moment, then sighed. "Well, I suppose the eggs weren't half bad, so c'mere." He said, holding the glass away, and approaching the sink. 

            Kagome watched it wonder as his hands descended into the dirty, soapy water, and pull out a rag. As he began buffing the glass, he glanced at her. "So, you gonna help, or what." 

            Kagome blinked, and nodded. She stood up by his side, drying some of the plates that had been already washed. They washed in silence, and slowly, a slight tug pulled at the corner of Kagome's mind. "So…" She started, voicing the thought. "Did you… y'know… find them?" 

            InuYasha didn't look at her. He stared strait forward out the window, out to the huge tree rising out of the courtyard. "No." He said finally. "Didn't find anything. I found the fire-pit of the camp that we separated from, but other than that, all signs just disappeared." 

            Kagome thought for a moment. "You don't suppose they ended up in…" She left it hanging, not wanting to mention the demon city. 

            "I checked in Shinjuku." He said, and snorted slightly. "Or at least tried." He lifted a glass out of the water, and started another. His hand was tense, and his eyes narrow. 

            Kagome stopped drying, and stared at him. She leaned forward, and looked up at his face. "Something wrong." 

            InuYasha sniffed. "Sesshoumaru's taken over Shinjuku." He said, his voice gravely and angry. "He's even taken the official title, 'Overlord of the West.'" He spat into the dishwater. "Like hell he is. That was my old man. Sesshoumaru couldn't fill his shoes." 

            Kagome frowned, and started another plate. The washed a few more dished in silence, before InuYasha spoke again. "I dunno why he was so helpful through the search for Vadise, but he's back to normal." He spat again. "He's got a bounty out on my head, so I didn't stay in Shinjuku any longer than possible." 

            "I thought you said they weren't in Shinjuku." She said, softly. "How did you manage to find out?" 

            InuYasha shrugged. "I asked." He said. "You remember that Aaron guy?" He asked. "I managed to find him. He said there were no new slaves, or any kitsune around." The hanyou shrugged. "He said he'd keep an eye open, though." 

            "But wouldn't he cheat you to Sesshoumaru?" Kagome asked. "I know that he's a good fighter, but Sesshoumaru is… well… Sesshoumaru." 

            InuYasha shook his head. "He might." He said. "But I really don't care. The bounty hunters are gonna find me anyway, so I might as well get it out of the way faster." 

            Kagome grimaced, and scrubbed the cup she was working on harder. "So… there are youkai bounty hunters?"

            InuYasha nodded. "Lots of crap like that. '"All of it'll be small fry until people realize that I'm no pushover." His eyes narrowed. "It's after all the stupid ones are gone that things get tricky." 

            Kagome smiled fondly at him, and punched him lightly on the shoulder. "Hey, you took on Atma!" She said. "I know you can take any bounty hunter that comes your way." 

            InuYasha looked at her, and his lips turned up in his trademarked, cocky grin. "Yeah, well she still better hope we don't meet again." 

            Kagome snorted. "Yeah, sure." She said, stacking the last of the plates. "You're really scary." 

            InuYasha flung his hands out to dry them, then crossed his arms. "Yer bein' sarcastic." 

            Kagome perked an eyebrow. "Right." She said, her voice dripping with cynicism. 

            InuYasha chuckled softly. 

            Right next to him, the telephone rang with no warning. 

            Kagome burst out laughing as the surprise sent InuYasha hurtling into the roof, and walked over to the phone. "Hello?" She asked. 

            "Kagome!" Eri's voice rang out. "We're all at the mall! There's this hot new little skirt in the Penny's, and I need your opinion on it." 

            InuYasha returned to the floor, and inspected the phone carefully. "What is it? He asked, poking at the earpiece. 

            "InuYasha, I'm talking." Kagome hissed, taking the phone away from her mouth.

            "Talking to who?" He demanded. 

            "Just be quiet!" She hissed again, and turned to the phone again. "Sorry." 

            "Who was that?" Eri asked. "Is it… _him_?" 

            Kagome froze, and looked at InuYasha. His ears pricked. "Is who _him?" He demanded. _

            "Ummm…" She said into the phone. "Tapped line." 

            "Really?" Eri demanded. "They're really taking that security think seriously."

            "Tapped line!" Kagome said again. 

            InuYasha growled. "What the hell is a Tapped line? And what security thing?"

            Kagome waved a hand at him. "Can't talk right now." She said quickly to the phone. "What was that about the mall?" 

            "You have to come down and see this dress. It's _so _cute!" Eri's voice rang, all thought to the supposed 'secret agent' in her kitchen forgotten. "Hurry on down." 

            "But…" Kagome objected, glancing at InuYasha again. She had wanted to spend time with him today. 

            "No 'buts.'" Eri commanded. "C'mon! We need you!" There was a quick conversation with someone one the other end, and Eri came back on the line. "Kagome, Yuka just found the cutest little blouse! This is vital, Kagome! We need you!" She sounded desperate. 

            Kagome rolled her eyes. "Hold on a second." She said, and turned to InuYasha, who was still regarding the phone with suspicion. "Listen, my friends want to see me down at the mall."

            "What's a mall." 

            Kagome blinked, not sure how to answer that. "It's… umm… the mall."  She tried. "Will you be okay alone for a while, if I go?" 

            InuYasha stared at her, and shrugged. "Feh! I suppose that you just wanna go take some of those tests that you love so much." He smiled at her. "Go on, get outta here!" 

            Kagome smiled at him, and nodded. "Thanks." She said, and dashed up the stairs on the side of the kitchen. 

            InuYasha smirked, and lounged back down on a chair in the kitchen. He was glad that Kagome had such confidence in him. If only it was that simple. The bounty hunters were not gonna be as easy as she thought. He had already run into one. He had been young and unprofessional. But still, he had been a tough little brat. InuYasha shuddered to think about what would happen when the real hunters started showing up. 

            He glanced at the long, beaten scabbard at his side, and sighed. 

            Kagome dashed down the stairs again, sporting a nice skirt and a pretty blouse. A purse was slung over her shoulder. "Okay, InuYasha, I'm off." 

            InuYasha was lounging in the chair, and waved a hand as she dashed by. "Feh." He called after her.       

            He closed his eyes again, and leaned back in the chair, thinking. 

            There was some rummaging in the kitchen, and his nose identified it as Kagome's mother. "Hey, mom." He said. He had taken to calling Mrs. Higurashi 'mom.' It worked a lot better than anything else. 

            "Yes, InuYasha?" Mrs. Higurashi asked, pouring herself a cup of coffee. 

            "I've been thinking. I'm looking for a place I might be able to do something…"

            "Something hmmm?" Mrs. Higurashi asked, sipping her coffee, and sitting down at the table across from the hanyou. 

            "Do you know where I could find…" 

*****

            Kagome struggled to keep in her yawns. Eri and Yuka were really going today…

            "Isn't it just the cutest?" Yuka demanded, modeling the little blouse. Kagome couldn't help but notice that it looked just like their school uniforms, only blue. 

            "It's beautiful." She said, hoping that her friend wouldn't notice the flat tone in her voice. "Buy it." 

            Ayame stood next to her, also bored out of her wits. "It's good, it fits, it's affordable. Let's go." She said. 

            "Oh, my gosh, Yuka! Look at this!" Eri's voice rang out from behind a rack of clothes. Yuka's eyes widened, and she quickly dashed over to the rack. Another school uniform look alike, this one black. 

            "Oh, my gosh! Kagome! Look at this!" 

            Kagome rolled her eyes, and looked pleadingly at Ayame. 

            Ayame shrugged. "I need to go to the bathroom." She said quickly, and began backing up slowly. 

            Kagome nodded quickly, "Me too." She said, quickly. They made a quick retreat from the expert clothes hunters edging towards them. 

*****

            "I feel like a retard." InuYasha complained. 

            "Hush." Mrs. Higurashi said, rummaging in a cupboard. "It's almost done." 

            "Do I really have to wear this?" 

            "Normal people don't wear clothes like yours in this time. You can't go around like that." 

            InuYasha scowled. "I'm not normal, though." 

            "Yes." Mrs. Higurashi said, pulling out a big, red bandanna. "But you want to look as normal as possible. You can pass the silver hair off as a rebel punk, but to do that you have to look the rest of the part." 

            InuYasha crossed his arms, missing the familiar feel of his haori. "Yeah, well, why can't I just run?" 

            "Because…" Mrs. Higurashi said. "People here aren't used to seeing youkai or hanyou. Bend down please." 

            InuYasha kneeled, and shuddered as the bandanna wrapped around his head, flattening his ears. 

            "Therefore," Mrs. Higurashi continued, tying the bandanna in a knot in the back. "You should not be flaunting it. Kagome might think that these times are perfect, but they can be dangerous too. You don't want to attract attention." 

            "What kind of dangerous?" InuYasha demanded suspiciously. 

            "Oh, not as dangerous as your times, of coarse, but there are bad men out there. Plus people with superhuman powers always attract government, and that would be too hard to explain." 

            "Gover-men? What the hell izzat?" 

            Mrs. Higurashi sighed. "Just follow my instructions. Don't talk to anyone unless you have to, head strait to the gym, and then head to the kendo area. Don't take out your sword, no matter what, only cross the streets when everyone else crosses, and don't kill anyone." 

            InuYasha sighed, and looked into one of the shiny things Kagome called a mirror. InuYasha had to admit. He didn't look to bad, now that he had the entire look together. There were big, black things on his feet the Mrs. Higurashi called 'sneakers.' They weren't too bad. His feet were warm, and they had pretty good traction. He would still prefer bare feet, though. Then there were his pants. They were sort of like his hakama, only thicker and rougher. They were blue, and flared out towards the bottom, where the hung about the 'sneakers' in big folds. Mrs. Higurashi called them 'jeans.' The jeans were tied off with a black belt. His top couldn't have possibly been farther from his haori. It was sleeveless and red, and hugged his torso fairly tightly. It was raggedy, and looked like the sleeves had been ripped off. On top of his head was a red and white bandanna that covered the top of his head and his ears. 

            "Well…" He said, still not liking the situation. "Fine. This gym place is only just down the big pavement street thingy, right." 

            Mrs. Higurashi nodded. "Its a few blocks down. It's a big building, and says 'gym' on it. You can't miss it." 

            InuYasha shrugged, and nodded his thanks. "I'll be back later today." 

            Mrs. Higurashi nodded. "I'll have dinner ready." 

            He nodded, and walked out the door, his arrogant swagger showing through the baggy jeans. Mrs. Higurashi smiled, and chuckled to herself. InuYasha was a good boy. He called her 'mom.' 

            She had a very strong suspicion that this prophesy would come true some day. 

*****

            Kagome and Ayame walked through the mall, each sipping a coke happily. Someone from school waved to Kagome and Kagome waved back with a smile. It had been so long since she had been able to just be a high school girl without worrying about dying every other second. 

            "Hey, Kagome?" Ayame asked, somewhat sheepishly. 

            Kagome looked at her friend, and nodded inquiringly, the straw from her coke occupying her mouth. 

            "Umm… would you mind if we… stopped by…" She pointed. 

            Kagome's gaze followed the finger, and she smiled. Ayame was pointing to the arcade. Kagome wasn't a videogame freak, but Ayame always enjoyed a quick game or two, and Kagome could deal with a few games herself. "Sure." She said happily, glad to go into a store with something besides clothes. "We've got a few minutes." 

            Ayame smiled, and headed off towards the arcade. Kagome chuckled, and followed her. By the time she got into the neon-lit room, Ayame had already disappeared among the games. Kagome laughed and pulled out a few yen. She could afford one or two games. She approached the counter for token, and placed her yen on the table. 

            The girl at the counter turned around, and told her to have a nice time playing. 

            Kagome nodded, then stared harder at the girl. She looked young. Too young to be working in fact. And also to young to be wearing the outfit she was wearing. She was maybe just into her teens, and was wearing an incredibly short red skirt. Her halter top probably would have been red, but it required a micro-scope to see, so Kagome really couldn't tell. Her hair, matching the motif, was dyed a thick crimson, and her contacts stained her eyes the same shade. She looked oddly familiar. 

            The girl seemed to be studying Kagome as well. Suddenly, her red eyes opened in surprise. "Kagome?" She asked. Her voice was girlish, but tried desperately to sound sensual, with only a modest level of success. "Izzat you?" 

            Kagome blinked, and looked around. "Do I know you?" 

            The girl smiled, and glanced around. Nobody was watching them. She held up a hand, and suddenly a flicker of flame ran through her fingers. "Oh, c'mon, if I can recognize you after five hundred years you should be able to recognize me after a month." 

            Kagome blinked, then her eyes widened. Those weren't contacts, and her hair wasn't dyed. "Tiamet?" She asked. 

            She girl grinned, revealing sharp fangs. "You bet." Said the red dragon. "In the scale." 

*****

            InuYasha scowled, and looked up at the building. The big symbols "GYM" blared back at him. He shrugged, and walked into the building, taking only a moment to figure out how to use the door. 

            Inside, he was hit full in the face with the smell of rancid sweat and exhaustion. He wrinkled his nose, and stepped in. To his left was a counter, with a man sitting at it. He looked shrimpy, and gangly. 

            InuYasha stepped up to him, and scowled. 

            The man, who was reading a magazine, put the paper down, and started at him, his eyes peaking with distaste over the thick rimmed glasses. They skimmed up and down his ragged appearance, then settled on his face. "Can I help you?" He asked. 

            InuYasha quickly decided that he didn't like this man. "Where's the kendo room?" He demanded. 

            Them man raised an eyebrow, and pointed down a long hall to the left. "Third door on the right." He said. "But there's someone in there right now. He doesn't like to be disturbed." 

            InuYasha shrugged. "He'll deal with it." He said as he walked down the hall. 

The man at the desk looked at InuYasha as he disappeared down the hall, then shrugged, and went back to the magazine.

*****

            "What are you doing here?" Kagome asked. "How are you here." 

            Tiamet laughed, and pulled a prize plastic spider out from behind the counter. "I'm a dragon. We live long times. Honestly, you've slipped my mind for a while. Had I known that this was your time, I would have stopped by and said hi." 

            "So…" Kagome said. "You've been alive all this time?" She asked. 

            Tiamet nodded. "Oh, by the way, what's happened so far? I don't wanna spill the ending." 

            Kagome blinked. "What." 

            Tiamet smiled at her. "For you, all the adventures in the past are happening right now, in your life. For me, they're already over, and I know the ending. Tell me where you are in the story right now, so I don't give away anything." 

            Kagome blinked in horror. "You know what happens?" She asked. "Do we get Naraku?" 

            Tiamet shrugged. "Now, I can't tell you that." She said. "It would ruin all the fun." She thought for a moment. "Have you returned to the past after seeing Vadise?" She asked. 

            Kagome thought for a moment, then shook her head. "InuYasha just got back from looking for Miroku and Sango." 

            Tiamet's eyes brightened. "Oh, yeah!" She said. "Now I remember." She seemed to think about something for a moment. "Lesseee… what's about to happen…" She suddenly stopped, and grimaced. "Oh, yeah." She said unhappily.  
            Kagome gasped, and leaned forward over the counter. "What's about to happen?" 

            "Nothing." Tiamet said, just a bit too quickly. "Tokens?" She asked, holding some up. "I run the arcade you know. I was so happy when video-games came around." 

            "What's going to happen." 

            "I can't tell you." Tiamet said. "Celest told me never to tell you anything." She said. "Stop asking! Have tokens! Play games!" Her tone told Kagome that the conversation was over, but she had hit on something else on Kagome's mind. "Celest?" Kagome asked. 

            Tiamet's eyes suddenly widened, and her hand slapped across her face. "You didn't hear that name from me." She said. 

            Kagome's brow wrinkled. "But I already know Celest." She said. "She came to us the second we got back from getting me cured." 

            One of Tiamet's eyes peaked form behind her hand. "You mean… you've met Celest already?"            

            Kagome nodded. "Was I not supposed to?" 

            Tiamet's brow crinkled. "No… if you met Celest, you were supposed too." She mused, then shook her head. She quickly deposited a large amount of tokens in Kagome's hand. "Anywho, we've probably bent the space time continuum enough for one conversation." She said. "Go play some games, and forget anything I said." She shook her head. "And come back again after you go to the past again. I'll wanna talk to you then." 

            Kagome blinked, and nodded. She should go find Ayame, anyway.

*****

InuYasha pushed his way into the room, and looked around. The room was padded, and thick, wooden swords stood on a rack on one of the walls. The floors were wood, and thick pads lined the walls. InuYasha scoffed. It looked like a training room for old farts. 

"What are you doing here?" A voice demanded from his right. 

            InuYasha turned. Well, maybe not _old _farts. The voice belonged to a middle aged man, maybe in his mid thirties. His hair was black, and ran back over his ears and stopped at his shoulders. He was solidly built, and a wooden boken was clutched loosely in his hand. He had a neatly trimmed beard and mustache, and he wore a white karate gi. InuYasha sneered. "Do I need an excuse to be here? I'm practicing." The hanyou turned and strode into the room, looking around. There were no targets to practice _on though. How could a place like this be useful? _

            There was a growl from behind him. "Listen, whelp. I have this room to myself every day, at this time. You can't just barge in here and expect to use it." 

            InuYasha found himself not liking the old man. "Listen, pops!" He said angrily. "I need this room, okay? So just leave, and lemme use it." 

            Behind him, the man sighed, and lifted his boken. "I've been practicing with the sword every day since I was little. You have no right to take away my practice time. Come back in an hour, and you can use the room. Otherwise, I'm going to have to make you leave." 

            InuYasha sighed, and turned around. "First of all, that ain't a sword, it's a stick. Second, you probably haven't been in a real fight in your entire life. You wouldn't stand a chance old man. Just get out while you still can." 

            The man looked at his stick, then back up at InuYasha. "You're the one in my territory whelp. You'd better get out." 

            InuYasha sniffed, made a negligent gesture with his hand. "Yeah, whatever." He turned around, and walked towards the rack of wooden swords, wanting to see how anyone could use them. His ears twitched under the bandanna. He whipped around, and held his hand out. The wooden sword thudded into his waiting palm, and his fingers wrapped around it. He grinned at the shocked man, and yanked the sword out of his hands. "You don't get it do you, old timer." He growled. "I'm using the practice room, so deal with it." 

            The man blinked, then scowled. 

            InuYasha hefted the boken, and inspected it. "How do you get any experience out of using one of these. The man's fist suddenly imbedded itself in his stomach, hard. InuYasha doubled over, his eyes widening. How the hell could a human hit that hard? 

            His hand let go of the boken, and it fell into the waiting hand of the man. 

            InuYasha stumbled back to his feet, and stumbled back, leaning back slightly. "Alright, old man." He said. "You asked for it." 

            The man sniffed at him, and laughed. 

            InuYasha growled, and like lightning his fist shot out and snatched the man's boken again, this time holding it properly like a sword. 

            The man smiled an odd, confident smile and foretold doom, then moved. His movements were like liquid. He was suddenly behind the stunned InuYasha, with his sword in his hands again. InuYasha shook in pain as the blade of the boken smashed into his back with a sickening crack. Like water, the man suddenly sidestepped around him, drawing the blunt blade around to his stomach, and made a quick chop motion, hitting into InuYasha's gut like a train. The hanyou doubled over, and the man quickly flashed up and brought the hilt of the wooden sword down on his head. 

            InuYasha dropped to his hands and knees with his head swimming. "What the hell?" He demanded, rolling out of the way of a downward thrust. The wooden sword stuck quivering into the hardwood floor, and the man suddenly jumped up on it, swinging around and bringing his foot directly into InuYasha's chest. 

            InuYasha stumbled backwards, and growled. Quickly, he placed his hands on Tetsusaiga's hilt. "You don't want me to draw this blade, old man." 

            The man scoffed. "Like you would have a real sword."

            InuYasha grimaced, and drew the Tetsusaiga, but not willing into its larger form. "Last chance old man." He threatened. 

            The man raised an eyebrow. "Well, it's a real sword, but I don't think it'll do much good." 

            InuYasha chuckled. "No more than your little toy." With that, he charged. 

            The man grinned, and quickly snapped his hand up to counter the mighty swing from the blade. The wood met metal with a single, sharp, _clack and Tetsusaiga bounced to the side. Before the clack stopped sounding, the man dropped down, and flashed a leg under InuYasha's feet. As the hanyou slowly fell backwards, the man brought his boken up, slashing across InuYasha's back as he came down. InuYasha was slashing up the second his back hit the ground, driving away the downward thrust that had been aimed at his chest, then hitting the man away long enough to leap into a crouch. InuYasha growled, and concentrated briefly on the battered blade of the Tetsusaiga. _

            The man gaped in surprise as the three feet of steel that had been the blade of the Tetsusaiga transformed suddenly into six, glowing hot feet of thick, sharp fang. He didn't even try to block the blow, but instead leaned back, avoiding the blade with skilled precision. Like lightning, the man dashed under the hanyou's guard, and brought his boken up on InuYasha's right wrist. InuYasha cried out, and the Tetsusaiga fell to the floor. The man kicked the blade away from InuYasha's grasping hand, then planted his foot on the hanyou's back. He was panting heavily. 

            InuYasha growled. "Get your foot off me." He seethed through clenched teeth. 

            The man thought about this, then jumped away from InuYasha. The hanyou slowly struggled to his feet. 

            The man chuckled. "Not half bad for a whelp." He said. "Not bad at all. You swing too heavy though." 

            InuYasha blinked. He had just made his sword grow twice its original size, and the most the man could comment on was that his swing was slow. 

            InuYasha growled at him, retrieved the Tetsusaiga, and headed for the door. 

            "Where ya going?" The man asked. 

            InuYasha turned. "It's your turn with the room." He said simply. "I'll wait." 

            The man spat. "Now hold on!" He said. "Your swings still slow, no matter how much you practice. You need someone to show you how it's done." 

            InuYasha raised a lip at him. "And you'll show me?" He asked sarcastically. 

            The man nodded reasonably. "Yeah, sure why not. It's good to go over the basics every once in a while. You up for it?" 

            InuYasha regarded the man a moment. "You don't find it strange that I just made my sword grow twice its normal size." 

            The man nodded. "Good trick." He observed. "You pulled it out too soon, though. I was expecting some sort of trick, when you used it, so you lost some of the effect." 

            InuYasha nodded. That made sense, he supposed. 

            "See, with a magic sword like that." The man said authoritatively. "You wanna throw them off. Give some sort of really flash slash or something like that." The man did a quick slash in the shape of an X with his boken, then followed up with a thrust and a tremendous cry. InuYasha snorted. 

            "That's ridiculous." The hanyou said. 

            The man nodded. "That's the point. No swordsmen would get caught by an attack like that, but if you looked shocked enough when they avoid it, they start thinking that that was your ace. Then you take the fight a little longer, then pull out the sword growy-thingy at the most advantageous moment." 

            InuYasha nodded, liking the way this guy thought. All previous grudges forgotten. "So, what did you mean about my slash being slow?" 

            The man laughed. "Show me a slash, and I'll tell you what the problem is." 

            InuYasha nodded, and slashed a might downward slash with the Tetsusaiga, transforming it back into its large form as he did so. 

            The man nodded. "Ahh…" He said simply. "I see. You're trying to put too much power into your swing. You don't have to throw so much punch into it. If you hit something with a sword like this, it's gonna die, so don't worry about trying to kill the thing, worry about trying to hit it. Like this." 

            "Oh, I see." 

            "Now you try." 

*****

            Sweat poured down Ayame's face, and got into her eyes, blurring her vision. What little she could see was locked onto the screen in front of her. Little arrows flew down the screen. The scrolled down, and passed a line, where they pulsed once, then flew off the screen. 

            As the arrows flew down, Ayame's feet flew to land on tiles with different arrows on the platform on which she stood. She had quite a crowd. Dance Dance Revolution always drew a crowd. 

            Her feet flew fleetly, and her eyes remained completely stationary on the line where the arrows pulsed. On the bottom of the screen the score counter was going up into the millions. 

            She didn't dare look at her competitor. The girl she was playing with had even a bigger following. Her score was even bigger than Ayame's. 

            Kagome watched them both go at it, impressed. Ayame was the master at DDR, but that other girl was giving her a run for her money. 

            The new girl looked like some sort of punk. She was American for one, completely white. Her face was sharp, not round. Her hair was long, and honey blonde, with lighter highlights. It was down up in a central part, then was pushed back over her ears, and then fell down her back in at least fifty little braids. Kagome couldn't possibly imagine how she managed to wash it, then put it back up like that again. She wore a big, baggy T-shirt, with the image of an anime girl sitting on the back of a giant wolf. Kagome vaguely recognized it from Mononoke Hime. She had some baggy jeans that, starting at the knees, were filled with holes and rips. Her shoes were huge sneakers. On her head was a backwards denim baseball cap.            

            They whirled in time to the pulsing beat of the game. 

            "This is a great song! Dance Baby!" The game screamed at them as the entered a new stage. There was applause from the audience. 

            Suddenly the girl on the right looked over at Ayame. "Hey, girl." She said, in oddly accented Japanese. "Not half bad. You played this before?" 

            Ayame didn't answer, concentrating on the flickering screen. Her honor was at stake here. 

            "Hey, c'mon." The girl said. "Don't be like that. You gotta talk to people! Ya won' make any friends being quiet." She said, her feet still flashing over the panels, and one eye always on the screen. 

            "Trying to concentrate." Ayame croaked, her eyes glazing over with sweat. 

            "Oh, sorry!" The girl said, as if that hadn't occurred to her. "I didn't realize." She leaned back towards, her own console, and continued dancing. The match raged on for over a good fifteen minutes. Finally, the stopped music signaled that it was over. The American girl had won. 

            Ayame stumbled off the machine, and approached Kagome. "I can't believe I lost." She said, breathless. 

            Kagome laughed. "You just set the second highest score, and you're worried about being beaten?" 

            Ayame nodded. "I'm the best at DDR." 

            Kagome rolled her eyes. She would never understand some things. 

            Slowly, the crowd dispersed, leaving only Kagome, Ayame, and the American girl. Slowly, she approached the two friends. "Heya!" She said, her Japanese still slightly shaky. "You didn't do bad." She said. "You should be proud." 

            Ayame nodded to her, a little bitterly. "Thanks." 

            "Name's Terri." She said, happily. "New exchange student in town. You guys go to Seryaski high?" 

            Kagome and Ayame looked at each other, then nodded. 

            She said something in American, then gabbed both their hands in a vigorous shake. "Sweet! That's where I'm going!" She exclaimed. "I'm in 11th, what are you in?" 

            Kagome blinked. "The same… I guess. That's like, two years before collage, right?" 

            Terri nodded. "Sweet." She said. "I heard that Japanese schools were the best, so I can't wait to go. I came during the summer to visit my granpa and maybe meet a few folks." She grinned at both of them. "Look like I already have." She said. "Who are you?" 

            "Um… I'm Kagome." Kagome said. "And this is Ayame." 

            Kagome found that her eyes were drawn to the front of the shirt. It had the shot from Mononoke Hime where San had the blood all over her mouth on it, with the words "Princess Mononoke" on it in American. 

            Terri smiled at them, and turned around. "Anyway, I gotta go, but I guess I'll see ya around! Thanks for letting me play ya!" She disappeared into the crowd.

            Kagome turned to Ayame, and gave her an inquiring look. 

            Ayame turned to her, and shrugged. 

*****

            "Okay, good." The black haired man said, looking critically over InuYasha's sword swing. "So, go home, and practice that, and if you have time, come back here tomorrow right after lunch." 

            InuYasha nodded, and, awkwardly, bobbed his head in a little bow to the man. "Thank you, Sensei-Sama." He said, his voice slightly respectful. It was amazing how much a man could teach you in a few hours. 

            The man laughed. "Nonsense." He said. "Just call me Lled." 

            InuYasha nodded, and turned towards the door. 

            "See you tomorrow, InuYasha." The man said, and began walking over towards the rack of boken. 

            InuYasha nodded, and walked out the door. It wasn't until he was already out on the sidewalk when he realized that he hadn't told the man his name. 

*****

            Kagome arrived home a few minutes before InuYasha, famished from a hard days shopping. 

            Mrs. Higurashi welcomed her home with some warm, seafood ramen soup. 

            Mrs. Higurashi smiled as they sat at the table. "So, Kagome, how were your friends today?" 

            Kagome sighed. "Pretty good." She said. "There's apparently a new exchange student from America in town." She said. "Her name's Terri." 

            Mrs. Higurashi nodded. "Yes I had heard about that." She mused. "Is she in your grade?" 

            Kagome nodded. "She seems kinda weird though." Kagome muttered. "She's really… random, and she dresses like some sort of punk." 

            As if on queue, InuYasha walked in the door, dressed in a bandanna, baggy jeans, and a tight red shirt. 

            Kagome turned around to welcome him home. Then saw how the shirt played over his muscles, and turned around again, very quickly. "Hey, InuYasha." She said, sipping some soup. 

            "Heya, Kagome." InuYasha said, exhaustion plain in his voice. "heya, Mom. What's for dinner?" 

            "Miso Soup." Mrs. Higurashi said. "Sit down." 

            InuYasha gratefully sat down, and leaned back in his chair. "Oy, man." He said. "That was one heluva day." 

            Kagome looked at him, trying to avoid looking at his shirt. "So, did you manage to train any?" Mrs. Higurashi had already filled her in on the events of the day. 

            InuYasha nodded. "There was this one guy there who really knows his stuff. He's showing me a thing or two." He grunted, grabbing a bowl of soup, and wolfing it down. 

            Kagome cracked a smile, and chuckled. "You're actually learning something? That's new." 

            InuYasha scoffed. "Yeah, well, just wait till you see me in action." He said. "You'd better be ready." 

            Kagome rolled her eyes, and sipped some more soup. 

            After InuYasha finished his fourth bowl, he reclined in his chair again, raising his arms beyond his head. 

            Kagome sniffed slightly, and grimaced. It was definitely time to introduce InuYasha to the shower. 

            InuYasha grinned and took a deep breath through his nose. The breath stopped suddenly, and his eyes opened. He inhaled again, testing the air. 

            Kagome blinked. "Something wrong?" She asked. 

            InuYasha sniffed again, then leaned forward, towards Kagome. He sniffed at her, causing her to blush slightly, then grabbed her hand. He put it to his face, and sniffed it again. 

            He looked at her intently, his golden eyes piercing hers. "I smell hanyou." He said. 

*****

            A quick note, A boken is a Japanese wooden practice sword (If I got that wrong, please tell me.) And Terri is my character, as well as Lled. I've already addressed Tiamet, although the name is from mythology, so it's public domain. The character is mine, though. 

            Oh, and if Terri seems sort of thrown in, that's because she was supposed to. 

            And I've tried drawing Ghetto InuYasha (and failed miserably) so, if anyone would like to draw him, I would love you forever if you would E-mail me a copy of the picture. 

            Anywho, I've gotta go, so see ya later. 


	8. Meetings

            Well, ladies and gentlemen, Sorry this took so long, by I had a lot of makeup work to do because of my sickness, however, I just found out something wonderful. *Ahem* Ladies and Gentlemen, I have officially made National Honers Society. YAHOOO!!!!!!!!!

            Sorry, I'm just kinda happy right now. 

            For the record, this is not one of my best chapters, but I don't think it's too bad. I tried editing it several times, and this was a good as I could get it. 

            Also, a quick comment to Time's Mortal Enemy: Yes, I did do InuYasha like that on purpose. I meant to make this more of a point in Two Weeks, but didn't manage it very well. The main reason Kagome was so sick was because she exherted herself so much in running home after yelling at InuYasha. Because she did this largely because InuYasha was an idiot, InuYasha was guilt ridden. InuYasha, being both a little more mature and a little more appreciative of Kagome, is in fact trying very hard to be nice. 

            Anywho, on with the fic!

*****

Weaving back and forth through the trees, a long, white serpentine apparition, darted swiftly, in its clawed, bony fingers was a blue flame. 

            Just behind the thing, a shadow darted. It swished along the ground, flowing over the surface of the leaves, through the grass, across the thick branches of the trees, and through the stream beds. 

            Death was not something to be taken lightly. When you defied it, in any way, things started happening. Rules started being bent. And when certain rules are bent, _they stepped in to unbend them. _

            And when _they step in, things start happening. Shadows come alive. _

            The thing finally reached a clearing, and began circling. The shadow stopped at the edge, and faded into the blackness of the forest. 

            Lying up in a tree at the edge of the clearing was a woman. She was dressed in a white Haori and a red Hakama. Her hair was a rich, lush, dark ebony, and across her shoulder was a strung longbow. Her eyes were closed, and she was not breathing. 

            The odd white creature circled the clearing, once, twice, three times, then came to hover over the woman. Slowly, it loosed its bony grip on the flame, and the flame slowly sank down into the woman's body, permeating into the front of her haori, then disappearing. 

            Her eyes opened, and she slowly leaned forward. Her eyes were a deep rich brown, but only barely opened, her lips turned down in a forlorn frown. She looked up, staring at the apparition, and nodded to it. 

            At the signal, the thing darted off again into the forest. 

            As it darted, it passed right by a shadow. And the shadow grabbed it. The hand was black. Not shadowed, but black, as if someone had cut out the space it took up. The thing writhed for only a moment, then it fell limp in the hand. A sandaled foot stepped out of the shadow towards the woman. Following it, came the woman in black. She stepped forward, gazing at the priestess in distaste. It was the same one as before. The girl that did the writes over the dead cattle driver. 

            Death took another step, her lips parting in a snarl. As she came out of the shadows, she left the shriveled spirit in the shadows, out of sight. The woman did not look at Death. She couldn't see her. 

            Death slowly circled the woman as she started out of the clearing, a hand pressed to her chin as she inspected the woman, like a piece of cattle. How could she have not seen it before? She had been too preoccupied with the cattle driver. Very unprofessional. She had been looking for a problem, and not kept her eyes open. And so, it had gone under her nose. Now she looked at the woman with disgust. The woman was not alive. He flesh was warm. Her skin wasn't pale. She was not dead. But she was not alive either. Death sniffed at the woman. She smelled of ash, blood, dirt, and flesh. Death scoffed, and spat. The work of the demon Uresue. Death was familiar with the work of the demon. She had had to deal with some problems of hers before. But none like this. Stealing the souls of the dead. Slowly, Death's eyes widened, as she looked at all the souls in the body. They were rotting, stagnant. They were crying out in pain. A gloved fist clenched at Death's side. This woman lived using the souls of the dead. 

            She closed her eyes, and searched her head. Death had a good memory. It came with the job. The name floated to her. Kikyo… 

            But she wasn't looking for a stealer of dead souls right now, she was looking for the thief of live ones. She would deal with this golem later. A quick glance through her memory told her that Kikyo hadn't yet been re-incarnated. But there was _something odd about this golem which used her body. _

            But for another day. There was something else that must be done. 

*****

            Sesshoumaru sat placidly in his chair at the foot of the table. It was an uncomfortable chair. It was hard wood, with no curve to the back, or any give in the seat. It was flat and plain. Sesshoumaru knew that all the other seats were heavily padded and cushioned. 

            "It seems you are missing one of your number." He observed, staring at one of the empty seats, to the left of the red haired girl. "Khellendros is missing, is he not?" 

            The red haired girl nodded. "Khellendros ran into a bit of trouble." She explained. "He's dead." 

            Sesshoumaru nodded, letting nothing escape. His thoughts on this were his own. 

            "However, this is not much of a loss." The man to Sesshoumaru's right said. "We shall not miss him." 

            Sesshoumaru nodded again. He said nothing on the matter, but pressed on. "You mentioned… a fellow dragon." He said carefully, staring directly ahead at the figure at the head of the table. "Why?" 

            The figure smiled, the firelight catching the sharp fangs, and reflecting them out of the shadow in crimson. "Because he is of our concern." The figure said, her voice sounding inhumanly through the room. "And because we have reason to talk of him." 

            "My father banished Ryuukotsutsei long ago." Sesshoumaru said simply. "You should know this, queen of dragons." 

            The figure in the shadows chuckled. "You flatter me." She said simply. "But I see the insult, as well." The figure took a step forward, only outlining her features in the torchlight. Her tan skin was turned a bronze, her face was sharp and firm. Three crimson stripes ran up her left cheek. Her hair was long, and tumbled freely down her back in a regal cascade. It was a deep, shade of bloody red, with deep, reddish purple highlights. Curling out of her hair, just above her long, elfin ears were long, ivory horns stained orange by the flickering light. Her neck was high and long, and wrapped around her shoulders was a deep, royal purple cloak, drooping around her, obscuring her entire figure. Sweeping broadly out from her back, and disappearing into the darkness behind here were two, arching, leather, draconic wings. The shadows that played across her seemed to make her seem like some creature of the underworld. Her eyes reflected no light; they were completely dead, betraying no emotion. "I knew your father, Sesshoumaru-Sama, better than most. Few knew him better." 

            Sesshoumaru's lips upturned slightly. He hadn't expected to get away with it, but when he was dealing with dragons, one must settle for anything one can. 

            "Then why do you bother me with talk of Ryuukotsutsei, queen of dragons?" He asked.

            To their sides, the girl and the man turned their heads back and forth to each speaker, like watching a tennis match. 

            " Because," The woman said, "Your father banished the traitor, yes, but failed in killing him." 

            "I most certainly hope that wasn't an insult to the mighty InuTaisho…" Sesshoumaru said, his tone, still even, dropped just slightly. To anyone who truly knew him, this spoke of a threat beyond words. 

            "Still, son of Taisho." The woman commanded, her voice sharp. "It was not an insult, but a fact. Your father could only seal the traitor with a fang, and this wounded him to the point of death. Now the failure may haunt his descendent." 

            Sesshoumaru simply turned his head slightly, lending the watchers a profile. "Have you reason to believe that Ryuukotsutsei has broken the seal of the fang at last?" 

            The woman shook her head. "Much of our magic went into that fang, Sesshoumaru-Sama. It would not be broken easily." 

            Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow. "Than why would you bother me?" 

            "Because another seal of your father's has been sidestepped." The woman pressed on. "It was shortly before your father's battle with the traitor that he fought with the mighty Chinese demon Hyoga." 

            "Hyoga and many of the Chinese youkai were sealed by another of Taisho's fangs." Sesshoumaru finished the story for her. "I was there." 

            "Yes, but some months ago, half a year, maybe, an _event _occurred." The woman said. "Something that none of us, not even Vadise thought of, happened. The Shikon no Tama, the jewel of four souls, returned to existence after fifty years of absence from this world, and even more curious, it was shattered." 

            Sesshoumaru turned again, facing the woman. "Yes." Sesshoumaru said. "I know all of this." He left no sign of impatience, only the ghost of it.

            "We aren't sure how, but one of the Chinese youkai escaped from the seal, using the power of a Shikon shard." The woman said grimly. 

            Sesshoumaru's lips tightened ever so slightly, and his hand clenched imperceptibly. Barely noticeable telltale signs of his feelings. "And it was?" His voice had dropped in pitch only slightly. 

            "It was Menomaru." The woman finished.

            Sesshoumaru's eyes widened, and his fist clenched suddenly. The calm blue, icy blue of his eyes stated to heat into a boiling, crimson red, and he whipped out of his chair, his back to the visitors. "Why did you not know of this when it first came about?" He asked softly, his voice wavering with anger. "I remember that you make a point to watch over all my father's seals…" 

            The woman closed her eyes, and her lips thinned. "We meant to." She said, and suddenly looked to her right where the girl sat. "However, our dearest little Tiamet decided that they weren't important enough to bother with." 

            The girl on Sesshoumaru's left crossed her arms, and pointed at the man across from her. "Well, I told Gelledius to watch for me!" She said defensively. "I was taking a nap!" 

            The man on the left leaned forward, a satirical smile on his face. He braced his strong, muscular arms on the table, and pressed his fingers together in front of his strong face. His hair was long and black, hanging to his shoulders, and his beard and mustache were well trimmed. His face was firm, and foreign, paler than the average Japanese, and more angular. "Well, young Tia…" He said. "We have this amazing thing among adults called 'responsibility.' It's truly amazing."   
            Tiamet narrowed her eyes. "Well, I have this thing called Gel is stupid." She said, sticking her tongue out at him. 

            Sesshoumaru seemed not to notice the bickering. "So, you failed to detect this until now." He finished. He turned around again, once again in control. There would be time for emotions later, now the Overlord of the West, the leader of Shinjuku needed to act. He sat down once again at the table. "Where is he?" 

            The woman smiled. "We think he is still where he was sealed." She said. "He does not wish to risk anything by venturing into the rest of the world, but is amassing power from where he is." She held out her hand, and suddenly across table spread a map, like magic. 

            Sesshoumaru looked down at it. "So, he would be here." He said, pointing. The map glowed ever so slightly where he pointed. "What will he do to gain power?" 

            "You remember his father's method." The woman left it hanging.   
            "He is stealing souls." Sesshoumaru said with distaste. "He is using the moths again?" 

            The woman smiled at him. "He can't steal many. He's still fairly weak." 

            Sesshoumaru nodded. "What else?" 

            The women stared at him. "Oni and Shin are already here, and other demons from China will surely be on the way." She said. "He will also be looking for a way to destroy the seal on his father." She said. "This will give him access to all the youkai that were sealed, as well as allow him to perform the write of passage." 

            "The write of passage?" Sesshoumaru asked. 

            "It's an ancient ritual in his family, in which the strength of one generation is passed down to the next. It is how they became so powerful." The woman sighed. "And we think he will also try to find a way to release Ryuukotsutsei." 

            Sesshoumaru nodded. "What does he need to do this?" He asked, practicality pervading his mind. 

            The woman turned, and thought. "We believe that he needs the Tetsusaiga to unseal Hyoga, but I don't think he's capable of freeing the traitor." 

            Sesshoumaru nodded. "So, we must find my brother, then?" 

            The woman grinned. "Not so." She said happily. 

            "I grow tired of these games, Atma." Sesshoumaru said, his tone barely giving a hint of warning. 

            The dragon queen grinned. "Vadise has the Tetsusaiga." She said. "And a doubt that she'll let it fall into the wrong hands." 

            Sesshoumaru did not ask how Vadise had the Tetsusaiga. It was unimportant. "So our concern is his forces from the east?" 

            Atma nodded. "Yes." She said. "Can you manage this?" She asked. 

            Sesshoumaru thought for a moment, then looked up, smiling. "Is this not technically your island?" He asked. 

            Atma nodded. "Good." She said. Then she blinked and looked at him. "What was that?" She asked, her voice lowering. 

            "This is your island." Sesshoumaru said. "Should not you hold the border?" 

            "Sesshoumaru-sama…" Atma said dangerously. 

            Sesshoumaru pressed onward. "You watch the border, and I will go and kill Menomaru. Then, we shall not have to worry about anything of the kind." He reasoned. "We shall cut the problem off at the root." 

            Atma regarded Sesshoumaru coldly. "You still hold a grudge against the Hyoga family, for aiding in the downfall of InuTaisho, don't you?" She said. It was not a question.

            Sesshoumaru turned around, back to her. "My reasons are my own." He said shortly. 

            Tiamet smiled leisurely, and glanced at Atma. "Oh, c'mon." She said. "Let him have his little revenge thingy. It can't hurt." 

            Atma scowled. "There are too many things that can go wrong." She said authoritatively. 

            "But I have no water capability." Sesshoumaru reasoned. 

            Atma scowled at him. "Bull." She snapped. "I know you've at least got that sea-serpent, Syldra. She could hold it off for a while, by herself." 

            Sesshoumaru did not bother looking at Atma. "Then let her handle it." He said. "I _will deal with Menomaru." He said. _

            "You're letting your personal feelings once again interfere with your leadership." Atma warned. 

            Sesshoumaru turned around and looked at her. "No." He said. "In this case, it's your leadership that is being interfered with." He said. "I will go to face Menomaru." 

            Atma's eyes glowed red, and her lip curled up in a snarl. "Very well, Sesshoumaru-sama." 

            Sesshoumaru did not look back again as he strode out of the hall.

            As the door closed, Atma's hands clenched. And the long table shattered, splintering into shards no more than an inch long. The other two people at the table didn't find anything odd about this. 

            "So, why are you so mad about him going after Menomaru?" Gelledius asked, turning to Atma. 

            "Because there's to much that we don't know." The dragon seethed, he fangs clenching. "Ryuukotsutsei was too smart to just rely on winning the first time." 

            "Umm…" Tiamet began. "He's been sealed to a big tree, remember?" She asked. 

            Atma glared at her. "Does that mean he couldn't have set something up?" She demanded. "If I remember correctly we still don't know what happened to one of the rebel dragons. She could easily have a hand in this." 

            Tiamet raised an eyebrow. "Who, Kiriln?" She asked. "I liked Kiriln. She didn't really rebel." 

            Atma crossed her arms in front of her, the cloak parting to reveal sable black plate mail. "She didn't?" 

            Tiamet shook her head. "Naw." She said. "Kiriln just sorta… sauntered away from the rest of the group." 

            Atma flared her wings out. "She left the clan." She said. "That's more than enough for me to be suspicious." 

            Tiamet waved a hand. "Yeah, yeah." She said. "I know why you're really angry." She turned around with a wolfish grin. "You just don't like the idea that the leader of Shinjuku just openly defied you." 

            Atma narrowed her eyes at Tiamet. "Shut up." She said. Behind her, the splinters crumbled. 


	9. Scars Long Past

            Every muscle in Aaron's body was tensed, ready to move with the slightest changes in balance. His eyes focused on the target, and at his sides, his fists clenched even tighter. 

            The sun was shining in his eyes, and his nose was itching, but he let nothing take his eyes off his goal. 

            _Three thousand sixty eight, Three thousand sixty nine, three thousand seventy._

The itch on his nose was becoming unbearable.   
            _Three thousand seventy one, three thousand seventy two, three thousand seventy three._

The itch was forming itself into a sneeze. It was edging. 

            _Threethousandseventyfour! Threethousandseventyfive! Threethousandseventysix!_

Aaron sneezed, and the pair of chopsticks that had been so carefully balanced on his nose flew across his alley. "Crap!" He said out loud, glaring at the chopsticks. "Two seconds longer!" He yelled. He stood up, and grabbed the chopsticks. Sitting back down on his pile of clothes, he balanced them once again on his nose. Maybe he could beat his old record this time.

            _One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen._

"Hey!" A young feminine voice rang out. "Aaron." 

            Aaron let nothing distract him. He recognized the voice though. "Busy right now, Tia." He said, his eyes crossing towards the bridge of his nose.

            Tiamet's clawed foot tapped impatiently on the ground, and her long red hair puffed out in a visible sign of irritation. She was wearing all red. Granted, 'all' was a very generous word for the outfit she was wearing. It was a very. small. outfit. that was very. clingy. 

            Aaron seemed to take no note of this, he was used to it. He sighed, and turned to her, one eyebrow raised. The chopsticks were still there. 

            "Yes, Tia?" He asked. "What do you want?" 

            Tiamet scowled. "Take those chopsticks off." She said, waving her hands. "We've got some serious matters to attend to."

            Aaron stuck his tongue out at her. "Tough. I've got to balance these for at least seven thousand eighty two seconds." He said. "Deal with it yourself." 

            Tiamet's lip pouted dangerously. "How did I get stuck with you as a dragoon?" She asked rhetorically. 

            Aaron tilted his head to the side slightly as a breeze changed the balance of the chopsticks. "How did I get stuck with you?" He asked. 

            Tiamet growled at him. "I'm not the one being difficult." 

            Aaron didn't even blink. "Yes, but you are the one who has red hair." 

            Tiamet blinked. "What does that have to do with anything?" She asked. 

            Aaron turned to her, keeping the chopsticks balanced. "You have red hair. Red incites anger. Anger leads to violence. Violence leads to hardship. Hardship is difficult to get through. Therefore, you are the difficult one." 

            Tiamet's mouth parted in non understanding, and her fingers moved in the air as she tried to pick out what Aaron had just said. 

            Finally, she scowled, and looked up. Her eyes widened once, and the chopsticks turned to ash on Aaron's face. 

            Aaron crossed his eyes in annoyance. "Crap." He repeated. "I only got to six hundred thirty nine." He sighed, and brushed the ash off his face. "So, what did you want to talk about?" 

            Tiamet gave him an exasperated look, and rolled her eyes. "Tell me." She said. "Has anything new happened here?" 

            Aaron thought for a moment. "Well, lemme think." He tapped a finger on his chin. The chin was slightly scruffy: he hadn't shaved in several days. "Lessee." His eyes brightened. "Oh yeah!" He said snapping his fingers. "InuYasha stopped in a few days back. Said something about looking for his friends." 

            Tiamet nodded. "Okay." She said. "Anything else?" 

            Aaron thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Naw." He said. "That's all that's weird." 

            Tiamet crossed her arms. "Okay." She said. "Good." 

            "Why do you ask?" Aaron had pulled out some more chopsticks, and was balancing them again. 

            "We just had our monthly meeting with Sesshoumaru." She said. "We had a little argument." 

            "About Menomaru?" Aaron asked nonchalantly. 

            Tiamet's head snapped up. "How do you know about Menomaru?" 

            Aaron shrugged, his head not moving at all. "I dunno." He said, moving his jaw oddly to remain still. "Just seemed like a good time for him to be coming back, so I took a guess." 

            Tiamet crossed her arms. "Did Atma tell you?" 

            Aaron shook his head. "Just guessed. And besides, it takes someone Sesshoumaru really hates to get him into a fight." 

            Tiamet nodded. "That's right." She said. "I keep on forgetting that you were alive back then." She said. "You probably know Sesshoumaru almost as well as Atma does."

            Aaron shook his head. "Naw." He said. "Atma has a special bond with Sesshoumaru. I could never know him as well as she does." 

            Tiamet's brow crinkled. "Special bond?" She asked. 

            Aaron raised an eyebrow at her. "You mean you haven't figured it out yet?" he asked. "I thought it was obvious. I realized the second I saw little Sesshoumaru as a baby." 

            Tiamet pursed her lips. "Realized what?" 

            Aaron scoffed. "Well, if you aren't gonna take the time to figure it out, I ain't gonna tell ya." 

            Tiamet rolled her eyes. "Fine." She said. "Anyway, Sesshoumaru's going after Menomaru." 

            Aaron raised an eyebrow. "That's kinda rash." He said. "I'd go after InuYasha, if I were him." 

            Tiamet blinked. "And why would you do that?" She asked. 

            Aaron smiled at her, the chopstick underlining his eyes. "Well." He said. "I figure that to break a fang, you'd need another fang. Menomaru will wanna break the seal on his father's power, so he'll go after the Tetsusaiga, right?" 

            Tiamet pursed her lips. "Yes, but Vadise has the Tetsusaiga, so we don't have to worry about that."

            Aaron raised his eyebrows. "You sure about that?" He asked. 

            Tiamet nodded. "I saw it myself. We met with Vadise before we came here, and she showed it to us." 

            Aaron shrugged. "That's funny, because I just saw InuYasha about a week ago, and he had it then." 

            Tiamet's eyes widened in horror. "You're joking, right?" She asked. "That's so not funny!" 

            Aaron shrugged. "Yeah." He said, nodding. "I mean, what if InuYasha really has Tetsusaiga?" The chopsticks fell of his nose. "Crap!" He said a third time. "Only five hundred thirteen." 

            Tiamet looked sick. "Vadise said that she had had Tetsusaiga for over a month." She said. "Are you positive you saw the Tetsusaiga?" 

            Aaron shrugged. "Well, it was a thin, beat up Katana that transforms into a six foot long curving blade with a big fluffy thing where the crossbar is." He looked up. "That's Tetsusaiga, isn't it?" 

            Tiamet began to feel sick. "Atma." She said. "Better know about this." She suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke.

            Aaron sighed, and put the chopsticks back on his nose. 

            _One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven._

*****

            Sesshoumaru stood in the middle of his room. It was a large room, lavishly furnished. The bed was large, and had cloth hanging around it, and heavy quilts stuffed with feathers lay on top. 

            Expensive looking wood furniture lined the walls, and near the hardwood door was a large, full body mirror. The mirror had been a gift, from Atma when he had first come to rule Shinjuku. He had had it for only a month. In that time, he had not used it at all. 

            The youkai lord stood strait and tall, his good, right fist clenched so hard that his knuckles were white. His claws bit into the flesh of his palm, and blood dripped through his fingers, and onto the marble floor. His eyes were glowing red with anger, fury and rage. Now he stared into that mirror, watching as his hair flew up around him, blown by unseen zephyrs. 

            _Menomaru._

            His hand suddenly unclenched, and flung out, searching for something. anything. It found purchase on the back of an ornate, ebony chair. The chair was suddenly flung full force into the mirror, shattering glass, silver, and wood all over the floor. 

            His fury was only fueled by his anger at himself. He had let himself become out of control. _Was _out of control, and yet unable to help himself. He held up his cut palm, and inspected it critically. He could feel the rage, oozing through his veins like a fire. A dirty, filthy fire. He was a _Tai youkai_. He would not loose control like some filthy human. 

            With a sudden, sickening feeling, he knew how InuYasha looked at the world. He could still fell the bitter stinging laughter of the Chinese youkai on that bloody battlefield. He could still feel his vision fading as the blade pierced him. 

*****

            _"Come, son of Taisho!" The Chinese youkai laughed, his green-blue hair waving around his face and shoulders. _

_            Sesshoumaru growled his defiance, clasping the katana in front of his with both hands. All around him, the battle raged. Youkai and humans slew each other mercilessly, hacking and chopping with anything hands could find purchase on. _

_            "Bastard!" Sesshoumaru growled, wiping blood away from his lips. He could feel the pain in his shoulder where the Chinese youkai had already nicked him with his long, thick blade. "No way your gonna win!" Sesshoumaru charged, his white haori flapping wildly in the wind, and his short silver hair flaring around his youthful face. _

_            The two youkai met with a clash. Menomaru leaned in towards Sesshoumaru as they struggled over the blades. "Now, son of Taisho!" He said, his baritone ringing mockingly in Sesshoumaru's ears. "I hope your father isn't this weak, or this battle may be already over." _

_            Sesshoumaru growled a fit of rage, and threw the Chinese attacker away. "My father could crush you into the ground." _

_            Menomaru laughed. "I'm sure he could." He fixed his gaze on InuYasha, his amethyst eyes narrowing cruelly. "But daddy's not here right now, is he?" With a sudden blur of movement, Menomaru was under his guard. Sesshoumaru gasped in pain as he felt Menomaru's long blade slash deeply into his side. His vision blurred slightly as the poisoned blade took effect. He fixed his eyes on Menomaru. Just behind the youkai, he could see where his father fought with Hyoga. The Overlord of the West's hair was flying around him. His shoulder guards were broken, and all the formalities of his haori stripped, revealing it to be like Sesshoumaru's: a plain white. Hyoga was standing in the middle of the circle of flailing winds. InuTaisho was making those wind. The had been raging the entire battle.  Sesshoumaru felt his vision blurring further. _

_            InuTaisho leapt back yet again, dodging yet another blow from the Chinese youkai. He raised his two swords in an X over his head, and sheathed them, reaching out his clawed hands in a grappling stance. _

_            Sesshoumaru grinned. InuTaisho had told him of this before. It was a sealing. InuTaisho was going to seal Hyoga. and this bastard, Menomaru. _

_            He stared back at Menomaru, and matched the sinister grin being shown to him. "I won't give you the satisfaction." He grunted. His right fist suddenly came up, smashing into the side of Menomaru's head. The youkai's eyes widened, and then he fell. _

_            Sesshoumaru staggered, watching as the battle around him waged. He wouldn't give anyone the satisfaction. He dropped the plain, ordinary Katana, and his right hand strayed to his side. Just before the battle, his father had given him his birthright. A sword. The Tensaiga. _

_            It was a pity that Sesshoumaru hasn't thought to use it on Menomaru. His father had said it held great power. His right hand grasped the hilt, and pulled the blade out. It was a splendid blade. Sesshoumaru grasped the blade with both hands, and inversed it, pointing the tip just below his collar bone. It didn't hurt when the blade slid in. The poison had already seen to it that he was numb. He could feel the strength oozing out of his body. _

_            Sesshoumaru, the Son of InuTaisho, fell forward into the blood and water and mud of the battle field. _

*****

            With a growl of rage, Sesshoumaru ripped of the top of his haori, and looked at his side. The scar was still there, where Menomaru's sword had pierced. The Tensaiga had removed the poison, and healed the flesh, but did nothing for the scar. It stayed there, a constant reminder to his childish rage: the arrogance, and the anger he had let pervade his mind in that fight. He had sworn never again. 

            And yet now... His breathing came in short breaths, and his fist clenched again. He was the overlord of the west. He could not let. _would not let_ this poison control him anymore. 

            The door to his chambers opened. "Sesshoumaru-Sama?" Echoed Rin's childlike voice. 

            Sesshoumaru turned around quickly, not letting the girl see his face. "Yes, Rin?" He asked, his voice seemingly under control. 

            But Rin new Sesshoumaru. Better than most anyone. She could hear, and see the millions of little signs. The way his back arch, the way his arm curved away from his torso, the was his feet were positioned on the ground, the tone of his voice flat by just a hair. "What is wrong, Sesshoumaru-Sama?" She asked tentatively. 

            Sesshoumaru turned his head, his eyes melting from the blood red to a rich amber. His lips perked around the edges, and his fist unclenched. "Come, Rin." He said, turning around. "Let me tell you a story." 

            Rin's eyes brightened. She loved stories!

            She quickly dashed around him, and threw herself onto the bed, burrowing under the thick blankets and sticking her head out in record time. A wide smile was plastered on her face. 

            Sesshoumaru smiled at the child's exuberance. "Long ago, when my father was ruler of this city, there came a threat from the east." 

            Rin's eyes widened. "What was it?" 

            "It was a youkai from China named Hyoga." He said. "And he came as a conqueror, following the invasions of the Chinese barbarians." Sesshoumaru came, and sat on the bed near Rin, placing his hand on her head in an almost paternal gesture. "He wanted power. He wanted my father's power." 

            Rin looked up at him. "But." She said. "Wasn't your father the strongest?" 

            Sesshoumaru smiled. "My father was the strongest of the youkai." He said. "But Hyoga had something unsuspected." He looked up. "The dragon clan is supposed to be a unit, a clan. However, every once in a while, one does not agree with the clan. One such dragon was the great beast Ryuukotsutsei."

            Rin blinked at him. "Are there many dragons who rebel?" 

            Sesshoumaru shook his head. "Throughout recorded history there have only been four." He said. "There was one who planned to overthrow the ancient wyrm Vadise by eliminating her allies. He made the mistake of going after a priestess named Midoriko." Sesshoumaru smiled grimly. "Few people know what happened to them, and I am not one of those few." 

            Rin nodded, absorbing all the information. "Who were the others?" She asked. 

            "Next there was the dragon Morkleb. He tried to take over when the leadership of the dragon clan shifted from Vadise to Atma." Sesshoumaru stared at the ceiling. "He died at Atma's hands." 

            "And." Rin asked expectantly. 

            "Then the dragons Ryuukotsutsei and Kiriln left at the same time. Ryuukotsutsei left to China, and made a pact with Hyoga, while Kiriln disappeared into the sea." 

            "Into the sea?" Rin asked. 

            Sesshoumaru nodded. "Many dragons have affinities to a certain natural phenomena." He explained, secretly happy to be deviating from the intended story. He was under control again. He was under control. "Atma, for instance likes darkness more than almost anything, while Tiamet prefers to bask in heat." He paused a moment. "I don't know why this is, however, it seems to be the case. Kiriln always liked the water apparently, and so she took to the water, and disappeared." 

            Rin smiled and nodded. "So what happened to Hyoga?" She asked, returning to the original story. 

            Sesshoumaru closed his eyes. "He attacked Japan, in mass numbers, both human and youkai." He leaned forward, obscuring his face from the girl at his side. "My father amassed a force himself, and fought back, for no reason attempting to protect the rest of Japan, rallying all of Shinjuku behind him. The battle was long and hard, and finally, InuTaisho managed to subdue Hyoga." 

            "We're you alive then?" 

            Sesshoumaru's eyes traced down to the scar on his side. "Yes." He said. "I was alive." 

            Rin smiled at this. "So, what happened to Ryuukotsutsei?" 

            Sesshoumaru's face didn't even flinch. "With the help of the dragons, InuTaisho defeated him as well, but at high price." 

            Rin's eyes widened. "Did he die in the battle?" 

            Sesshoumaru looked at her, just a moment his eyes flashing between rage and sadness, then back to the cool, controlled amber. 

            "No." Sesshoumaru said. His fist clenched again. "He returned, victorious, to me, his human mate, and his other son, InuYasha, from the battlefield." 

            Rin blinked. "Then at what cost?" 

            "He was weak." The Tai youkai said. "He was unable to defend himself." 

            "From what?" Rin almost agonized. 

            "Mating a human was unforgivable, in the culture of Shinjuku." Sesshoumaru said. "It was the one crime the populace could not get around. And so, they waited for his return, and as he walked into camp, they met him." Sesshoumaru's eyes closed again. "He barely had time to tell InuYasha and his mother to run. Then they were on him." Sesshoumaru, for once since that time so long ago, let out a bitter chuckle. "And so fell the mighty InuTaisho." He said. "Killed by his own people, for loving a human." 

            Rin said nothing. When Sesshoumaru looked at her, she was staring silently at the floor. 

            "So, what did you learn of Aaron?" He asked. 

*****

            "Atma!" Tiamet's voice rang out like a gunshot. "Atma!" 

            Atma stood, her heavy, purple cloak flowing in the breeze, looking out at the ocean. Her dark eyes scanned the horizon. _Something_ was coming. Something important.

            No youkai bothered her. The aura of power that radiated from her made sure of that. She didn't even turn to look at Tiamet. "What is it?" She asked. 

            "I just talked to Aaron!" She said. "He's seen InuYasha in the past week." 

            "No doubt." Atma said; her lips barely moved. "He will be looking for Sango and Miroku. They are heading towards Vadise's forest as we speak." 

            Tiamet dashed around to face her. "Well you better be heading for Vadise too." She said. 

            Atma didn't even raise an eyebrow. "Why?" She asked simply. 

            "Because Aaron says that InuYasha has the Tetsusaiga!" Tiamet practically yelled. 

            Atma's eyes widened at that. "What?" She demanded, her voice rising in pitch. "Whaddaya mean?"

            Tiamet rolled her eyes. "Exactly what I said." She growled. "Aaron says that InuYasha has the Tetsusaiga." 

            Atma's face paled. "Oh, shit!" She said bluntly. 

            Tiamet's foot tapped on the marble. "Well?" She said. "Go see Vadise!" She yelled. "See what's going on." 

            Atma's eyes narrowed, and she nodded. Then she was gone. No poof, no zap. Just gone.

             Tiamet breathed a sigh of relief. They would get everything sorted out. She glanced up at the horizon, and narrowed her eyes. There was something there. It was a little black speck. A ship, Tiamet concluded. But. with the ship. There was a feeling. Something was there. 

            Tiamet smiled slightly. Maybe Atma was right. Maybe the two remaining traitors were conspiring something. 

            But in rare cases, fire and water mixed. This was one of those cases. Tiamet tensed, and suddenly bright, crimson, scaled wings burst from her bare back. She flapped once or twice, and then took off over the sea. Kiriln deserved a welcome home just as much as anyone! 


	10. Training

            InuYasha sat up, his hair disheveled, and one of his eyes was closed more than the other. It was early. Too early. Ridiculously early. He turned, and propped his back on the back of the couch he had slept on, and planted his feet on the hardwood floor. Really, really, way too early. 

            He tossed the quilt Mrs. Higurashi had provided for him off, behind the couch, and stood up. He stretched, rolling a sore shoulder. Five days of sword practice didn't come lightly. He hadn't felt this sore since the fight with Atma. 

            He was down to his white inner haori and hakama. It was plenty warm in the house; no point in wearing the entire outfit all the time. He staggered from the living room into the kitchen, and planted his hands on the kitchen table, trying desperately to get his mind to conform to the same action as his body. 

            Slowly, he made his way around the kitchen to one of the cupboards. The kitchen had gotten very familiar to him over these past few mornings. He had learned all sorts of stuff. Valuable life lessons like garlic and coco-puffs didn't match. He rummaged through a cupboard for a moment, and pulled out a few leftover biscuits from the big breakfast Kagome had made that first morning. It had been a good breakfast, but he couldn't very well let her know that. It would go against principle. 

            He took a big bite of one of the biscuits, and staggered over to the cold-box-thingy. Another wonderful invention of Kagome's time. He opened it, and grabbed a carton of milk out of it. The carton had the symbol 'inu' on it, claiming it as his. (This had occurred after he adamantly refused to use a glass, and the family had decided that, to cut down on germs, InuYasha would have his own milk carton). He took a big gulp of the milk, another bite of biscuit, another gulp of milk, and gabbed a sausage from the leftover plate. 

            He turned, again, shutting the fridge. Damn, it was early. He walked towards the front door, footing still slightly uneven, and threw it open. Damn! He had opened too hard. The door slammed against the outside of the house, and reverberated through the building. InuYasha winced, and looked around. Nobody in the house seemed to be stirring. Good… If Kagome knew how hard he was taking this training, she would start to worry. 

            He shrugged, and walked out the door, heading for the center of the courtyard of the shrine. It was roomy, and good for sword practice. And practice was what he needed. 

*****

            Kagome jerked awake as the door slammed. She hated waking up suddenly. Well… she hated waking up period, but she _especially _hated waking up suddenly. "Mfwaamxglmphrt" She said intelligently, her brain trying to figure out how to speak again. Slowly, it began picking out the remnants of Japanese left in her sleep befuddled consciousness. 

            Who was up at this time? She rolled over, and starred at her clock. 5:30?! She sat bolt upright, the shock from the door slam taking away any chance of getting back to sleep. Who was up at this time? Her mom didn't even get up until six, and that was on days that she had to teach! And Souta's cartoons hadn't even started yet! 

            She slowly sidled over to the side of the bed, and oozed out of it, her legs having left their bones in the land of nod. She wore green pajamas with teddy bears on them. She liked Pajamas. They were nice and comfy. 

            She wobbled out of the blankets, and shakily made her way to the window. Who was out so early?

            She parted the blinds of her window, and looked out. And froze. 

            It was InuYasha… 

            He strode out to the center of the shrine courtyard, and began rolling his right shoulder, rubbing it as if it was sore. He was wearing his white haori, and Kagome could barely tell where his hair ended and where the cloth began. 

            She stood transfixed, her breath caught in her throat at the window. 

            InuYasha rolled his shoulder a while longer, then in one smooth motion shrugged out of the haori. 

            Kagome's eyes widened, and her mouth parted slightly. What? What was he doing? 

            The sun had not risen over the city horizon yet, and the world was cast in the gray-blue light of pre-dawn. InuYasha's hair seemed oddly grayish, and the shadows cast around his musculature, playing off every curve and bulge. He was lithe and slender. His chest was smooth, well muscled, and his abs were perfect, not bulging obtusely, but made smooth, liquid steel. He seemed to have no access fat. His arms were long and smooth; the toned muscled not too large, but definitely there. Hardly any scars remained on them from the many battles he had fought.

            Kagome closed her mouth, and swallowed. She had never really seen InuYasha without the big baggy haori on before. Sure, she had whenever he had been wounded, but she had never really had the chance to just… _look_. She ripped her eyes away, and leaned up against the desk, one hand over her pounding heart. She had known he was handsome. That was obvious just from looking at him. She had known he was in shape. That was obvious just from the way he moved. But she hadn't known he was so… She looked over her shoulder, and stole another look… Gorgeous. 

            InuYasha had the Tetsusaiga out now, still in it's beaten up small form, and was holding it carefully. Kagome blinked and turned around again, trying not to get distracted too much by the… other aspects of the hanyou. What was he doing? 

            He had the sword grasped in both hands firmly, held at an almost perfect forty five degree angle with the ground. He was resting on the balls of his feet, having them spread out in a careful stance. Kagome had never seen him hold a sword so carefully. With precise control, he raised the sword above his head, and brought it down quickly, then back up, took a step forward, slashed to the side, then back again. Was he… training? The idea almost seemed blasphemous to her. InuYasha would never train! But he was… 

            InuYasha continued. Downward swing… step forward… strait thrust… reverse blade, and slash backwards… reverse blade again, slash up… step backward… parry… step back… slash… thrust… low sweep… sidestep… 

            Back and forth across the courtyard InuYasha danced, fencing with an invincible opponent. He started slow, and slowly began to work up speed. Kagome's eyes widened. She had never seen InuYasha control himself like this before. He wasn't just slashing randomly. He wasn't putting all his strength into his attacks. He was moving fast now, his steps turning into constant movement, his feet flying left and right in an intricate waltz. Finally, he finished with a low sweep of his blade across the ground, the plunged the steel into the heart of the invisible enemy. 

            Kagome blinked as the spell was broken, and InuYasha stretched again. Her eyes widened slightly as the muscles played under the skin, and she turned around again, blushing madly. She would never be able to look at the hanyou again without turning beet red! That's it! She was going back to bed, and this would all just be a nice dream… a very nice dream… back to bed… bed… 

            Thoughts faded as she turned around again, and stared out at InuYasha again. He was up on the thick stone wall that marked the courtyard, standing so that the horizon ran strait through his stomach. He suddenly took off in a run down the wall, his feet landing firmly, and the Tetsusaiga gripped in his hands backwards like a knife. He flashed forward with it, the blade becoming no more than a blur, and suddenly it was in the other hand, being held loosely by the end of the hilt. He suddenly swung it up, around, and blurred it through an impressive arc, leaning into the swing. Just as he was about to fall forward, his foot came forward, and planted into the rock right in front of him. He swung out again. He tensed ever so slightly, and the blade suddenly grew in mid-swing, transforming into the huge broadsword that was the Tetsusaiga's true form. He planted his foot again, and continued the swing over his head in a 360 degree arc, then caught it again, low to the surface of the wall. His knees were bent, ready to move, or pivot, or whatever he needed to do. Tetsusaiga was grasped in his left hand, again backwards like a knife. His right hand was level with his face, the palm open and ready.

            He suddenly lunged out with the right hand, grabbing on to another invisible opponent, and slashing through it with the Tetsusaiga. He brought the swing around, and planted the tip of the blade into the side of the wall beside him. He swung down, hands grasping the blade, and back up, kicking whatever happened to be in the way. 

            As he whirled and spun up on the wall, slashing, punching, grabbing and kicking, the sun began to rise. It peaked over the horizon, flooding Kagome's window with gold light, and cast InuYasha into a completely dark silhouette. 

            He continued dancing and whirling, and Kagome continued watching, oblivious to the sun in her eyes. 

*****

            When InuYasha returned to the house, refitting his haori onto his shoulder, Mrs. Higurashi was already up, and rummaging around in the kitchen. She already had a cup of coffee in her hand. 

            "Good morning, InuYasha." She greeted him cheerfully, nodding. "What are you doing up so early?" 

            "Just watching the sunrise." Than hanyou responded briefly, heading towards the cabinet where the biscuits were located. 

            Mrs. Higurashi smiled secretively and nodded. "Yes." She said. "I saw it too." 

            InuYasha turned, and blinked at her, a biscuit hanging out of his mouth. 

            Mrs. Higurashi didn't say anything, but took a sip of her coffee. "So, are you off to the gym again today?" She asked. 

            InuYasha nodded. "Yeah." He said, his tone dripping with arrogance. "That guy Lled still needs a few tips." 

            Mrs. Higurashi sipped her coffee, and winked at him. 

            There was a _thump thump thump _from the stairs as someone made their way down them. Kagome stepped into the kitchen, her eyes blurry from the after effects of waking up. "Morning…" She said, nodding to her mother, and heading towards the fridge. She avoided looking at InuYasha. 

            Mrs. Higurashi finished her coffee, and got up to get another cup. "So, Kagome." She started. "Do you have any plans for today?" 

            Kagome rummaged around in the fridge a moment, thinking about what she could do. Hanging out with InuYasha the way she was feeling right now probably wouldn't be the greatest of ideas. "Ummm…" She said finally, grabbing a few eggs. "I thought I would go to the mall for a little while." She said. "Since InuYasha's gonna be gone to the gym, today…" 

            InuYasha nodded. "Speaking of which, Lled wanted me to come early today, so I'll be going soon." 

            Kagome sidled over to the stove, and quickly started cooking the eggs. "Okay, InuYasha." She said. "Be sure to have fun." Kagome couldn't possibly imagine how red her face must be right now. This was so embarrassing! 

            InuYasha turned to Kagome and blinked. She was acting odd… he sniffed; to see if anything was odd. Nothing really weird about her scent. Probably still half asleep. He shrugged, and stood up from the table. "I'm gonna go change, and then I'm outta here." He walked out the room. 

            Kagome let out a sigh, and turned around, blushing madly. 

            Her mother leaned against the kitchen counter, and smiled at her above her mug. 

            "What?" Kagome asked, blushing even more. 

            Mrs. Higurashi took a sip of Coffee, and winked at her. "Some sunrise, today, hmm?" 

            Kagome gaped, and blushed even more. 

*****

            InuYasha barged into the gym, once again in his street clothes. He had gotten to be a regular sight there at the gym. The proctor at the desk barely even glanced at him, and the guys pumping weights didn't bother giving him a second glance. He turned right, went down three doors, and turned left. 

            He opened the door, and strode confidently in. He took two steps in, and looked around. Lled was nowhere to be seen. InuYasha growled, and spread his legs in a grappling stance. Lled might not be seen, but he would have to do some clever maneuvering to fool his ears. He suddenly whipped around, and held out his hand, catching the bokken flying at him at high speed. Lled grinned, hanging from one hand from the ceiling. "Very nice." He said. 

            InuYasha grinned, reached up, grabbed Lled by the head, and threw him negligently over his shoulder. 

            Lled landed hard on his back. He looked up at InuYasha, and smiled. "Good." He said. "Don't ever fight honorably. Fighting dirty is easier, and more effective." He raised his feet in the air, and jumped to his feet, hitting InuYasha in the face in the process. "Now, what about the two stances?" 

            InuYasha held his sore nose, and winced. "Yeah, yeah." He muttered. "Stances…" 

            He pulled out the Tetsusaiga, keeping it in its small form, and carefully repeated the stance he had started with. His legs spread, and both hands came together on the hilt, holding it perfectly still. 

            "Good." Lled said with a smile. "Now, tell me, when would you use this?" 

            InuYasha let the Tetsusaiga drop to his side. "I'd use it when precision is a must, and when dealing with something bigger than I am." His voice droned like a student reciting a math theorem. 

            Lled nodded. "Why?"

            InuYasha blinked. "You never told me that…" 

            Lled scowled, and his hand suddenly blurred. The bokken smashed across InuYasha's face, shattering into splinters. InuYasha recoiled immediately. "What the hell, old man!" he scowled, spitting blood. 

            Lled sneered. "It doesn't matter if I didn't tell you. If you just memorize, you won't remember in the heat of battle. You have to understand, and make sure your body knows it." 

            InuYasha scowled. 

            "Now, why when you need control, and why when you're fighting things with greater mass?" 

            InuYasha scowled, and spat more blood, feeling the cuts in his mouth with his tongue. Why would you want to use the stance for more control? "Because…" He said tentatively. "With two hands on the hilt, you can get more accuracy…" 

            "Which is useful for?" Lled prompted. 

            InuYasha racked his extents of logic. "When you are fighting an enemy with limited weaknesses." He said. "The precision lets you hit those weaknesses with greater accuracy." Lled nodded for him to keep going. "And the two hands give you greater power, so you can cut deeper into larger opponents." Lled nodded. 

            "But of course, there are exceptions…" Lled began. 

            InuYasha was getting into the swing of things now. "Because you can have precision with other stances, in which speed is essential too." 

            Lled waved a hand for him to continue. 

            "Which is what this stance is for." The hanyou, said, shifting the Tetsusaiga up, holding it like a dagger, and lifting his other hand, ready to grab or whatever needed to be done. "Used for quick or small things." 

            "Because…" 

            "The loose grip on the sword would let you move it more freely," InuYasha said, thinking carefully, moving the sword in mock parries as he spoke. "You could dodge and block faster. Plus, you can grab and punch with the free hand." He smiled and added. "Probably more useful then the first." 

            Lled nodded. "Good observation." He conceded. "Which should you start with?" 

            "The second." InuYasha started. 

            "The first." Lled interrupted. "The first is a defensive stance. It lets you judge your enemy, to see how he moves." Lled said, grabbing another bokken off the rack, and holding it in the stance. "Here, attack." 

            InuYasha smiled, and faded into the one handed stance, and dashed forward. 

*****

            Sighed as she walked down the street, her thoughts whirling around in her head like butterflies. Sure, she had thought about InuYasha like… _that_ before, but never really so… _bluntly_. She sighed and shook her head. And now, he was acting so nice. Well, not incredibly nice, but he most certainly wasn't as mean as he was before the incident a month ago. She blushed as she remembered the touch of their hands as InuYasha took the glass out of her hand, only a few days before. Oh, now look at her! She was going all ditzy like a fan girl meeting her favorite star over a simple touch! Oh, what was wrong with her? She had thought about being in love with InuYasha before. Even been convinced that she was! But… it couldn't be… actually… was she? 

            "Hey!" A female voice called out in oddly accented Japanese, derailing Kagome's train of thought. "Ka-Go-Me!" The voice said. 

            Kagome turned around, and looked. 

            A girl ran up to her, long blonde braids flailing out from under her red baseball cap, and flowing over the shoulders of her forest green princess Mononoke T-shirt. It was Terri.

            "Oh, um…" She said. "Hi." 

            Terri ran up beside her, and stopped to catch her breath. "Hello, Ka-Go-Me." She said, he voice oddly monotone, not carrying any personality. 

            Kagome blinked. "Is there something wrong?" She asked. 

            Terri looked up at her, and shook her head. "So-ry." She said. "I am still working on accent."   
            Kagome opened her mouth to say something, then paused to think better of it. Kagome had forgotten that the girl was speaking Japanese as a second language. "But…" Kagome interjected. "You were speaking just fine in the arcade…" 

            Terri thought about this a moment, processing, translating, then translating back. "Yeah." She said. "I had heard some other girls talking like that, so I tried imitating their accent." 

            Kagome nodded, still heading towards the mall. That would have explained the… oddness of her accent that day. Kagome quickened her pace, trying to get to the mall as fast as she could. This was getting kind of awkward. 

            "But, when I got to grandpa's house, he told me that the accent was ridiculous, and to stop." 

            Kagome looked at her over her shoulder. "Well, it was kinda weird." She said. "It was sort of like a country accent, but you were using too much diction." 

            Terri stopped a moment, and thought about that. Then she said something weird sounding in English and laughed. "I have not gotten used to Japanese yet." She confessed. "I'm trying to find an accent close to the one I use in English." 

            Kagome nodded, still walking fast. "Well," She said. "I'm sure that you'll get the hang of it." She said, in a tone that said good bye. "Good luck?" 

            "May I walk around with you today?" Terri asked, in a voice that probably would have said hello if it had any accent at all. 

            Kagome smiled. "Well," She said. "I'm heading to the mall. I suppose you could come with me." 

            "I'm glad." Terri said, nodding her gratitude, and picked up the pace walking alongside Kagome. "What class are you in?" 

            Kagome thought for only a moment. She hadn't been in school so long that it was hard to remember. "I'm just heading into my junior year." 

            Terri smiled. "I am also…" She said. "Maybe we will have the same teacher." 

            "Maybe." Kagome said. "So, you're an exchange student?" 

            Terri nodded. "My grandfather lives in Japan, so I am staying with him for the time I am here." 

            Kagome nodded. Awkward! Awkward! Awkward! "So, where did you live in America?" 

            Terri thought for a moment, going over vocabulary. Then said something indecipherable. 

            "What?" Kagome asked. 

            Terri blinked at her, then repeated the phrase to herself a few times. "Ah!" She said finally. "The south. In Texas. I apologize." 

            Kagome blinked then grinned. "Isn't that like all desert?" 

            Terri raised an amused eyebrow. "No." She said. "That is Nevada. Texas is mostly flatland and scrub. There are forests in the east." 

            Kagome nodded. You learned something new every day.

            "Where do you live?" Terri asked. 

            Not very subtle, is she? The thought scurried involuntarily across Kagome's mind. "I live in house down a few blocks. My family owns a shrine." 

            Terri's eyes brightened. "Is it the shrine with the big tree near it?" She asked. 

            Kagome turned and nodded. "How did you know?" 

            "My grandfather showed it to me while he was taking me around town. You can see it from a long way off, so it is a good landmark to navigate by if you are lost." 

            Kagome nodded. Sound advice. She turned ahead. The mall was only a block away. "Well, let's go." 

            "How did you do that?" 

            "Do what?" 

            "You put 'let' and 'us' together. I need to learn how to do conjunctions."

            It was going to be a long day. 

*****

            "You're hitting to hard!" Lled admonished. "It I had a steel sword, then I could snap your blade like a toothpick." 

            InuYasha nodded, and swung again, this time letting gravity take the heavy Tetsusaiga proper through the air. 

            "Better, but you want to keep an eye on how I'm going to block." He said, moving his bokken to block the blow. InuYasha couldn't even begin to think how the thin wooden sword could block the Tetsusaiga so easily, but Lled seemed to manage nicely. "You see, if a good swordsman blocks you at the right angle, you need to be able to see that, and pull up enough the keep your sword from shattering. Let gravity take your sword for a downward swing, but be ready to pull up." 

            InuYasha nodded, and swung again, letting gravity take the blade, but keeping his arms tense.   
            "Now." Lled prompted, and InuYasha pulled off the swing with both hands. "Good." InuYasha's instructor continued. "Now, before we start up again, go over what you need to work on for me." 

            InuYasha sighed, and put down the Tetsusaiga. "I need to pay less attention to what I'm doing, and more to the enemy. Let the enemy attack first and just react to what he does." He droned. "It won't work when the enemy is being defensive, though, so try to draw him out into an offensive position." Lled nodded. "I also need to make the connections between my movements steadier and more fluid, so that the enemy can't tell what I'm going to do next." A waving hand prompted onward. "And lastly to watch the angle of my blow. If the blade has too much force exerted on it, it'll break." 

            "Good." Lled said. "Now, what I've taught you this week are basics of swordplay." He grinned. "Of coarse, there are lots more things you can do, particularly when you start mixing defensive stances and offensive stances together, but now you know and understand the basics." InuYasha nodded, a bored expression on his face. 

            Lled smiled at him. "I'm gonna be outta town for a few days after today, but keep on practicing those things, and I'll show you some real cool stuff when you come back." 

            InuYasha grinned. He had thought the stuff he was learning right now was 'real cool.' 

            "Well, old man," InuYasha said, "I suppose you better hurry up and get outta here, then. I might start beatin' ya." 

            Lled grinned wolfishly. "You couldn't beat me if you tried, whelp." He said. "You just bring it." 

            InuYasha grinned, and carefully faded into his defensive stance. "Well, since you seem so eager to lose…" 

*****

            Kagome and Terri sat in the food court of the mall, and picked at their food. Terri had a McDonalds hamburger, and Kagome had gotten some fast food ramen. "So, how do you talk in English?" Kagome asked. 

            Terri grinned slightly, and lounged back in her chair. She started speaking in English. He voice was sort of low, slow, and oozed lazily between her lips like honey. Her voice gave the distinct impression that she didn't care about what Kagome thought about it, or even what she thought about anything. 

            "I'm sort of a rebel in America." Terri said. She had caught on to conjunctions fairly rapidly, and was not looking for places to use them. Kagome had to correct her every few sentences when she messed up. Maybe it was just Kagome, but she could also hear the start of the lazy accent carrying over into her Japanese. Just a start, but it was something. "Not a bad one, mind you, but I don't really like a lot of things that go on there." 

            Kagome nodded. That was reasonable. "Government?" She asked. 

            Terri shrugged. "No…" She said. "Not really all that. I suppose I mostly don't like human nature. The government just supports that. It's the nature of democracy." 

            Kagome blinked. "You don't like democracy?" 

            Terri shook her head. "Nope." She said. "I think it's better than any possible alternatives at the time, but for the most part, I don't like it." 

            Kagome shook her head. That was odd. Everyone she knew always praised democracy. "Why do you say that?" 

            Terri shrugged. "People are stupid as a herd. The more people making decisions, the more stupidity permeates those decisions. What you need is a smart person deciding everything. Unfortunately, the only smart people interested in ruling are the tyrants who are only interested in themselves, not their country. So, as I said, Democracy is the best system we can muster right now." Terri shook her head. "But most of the time, I just ignore the government, and blame all the problems on human nature." 

            Kagome nodded, and took a few bites of ramen. Terri took a sip of her drink, and watched her eat. "How do you do that?" She asked finally, pointing to Kagome's chopsticks. 

Kagome glanced up, and blinked. "Here, lemmee show you."

*****

            Kagome tiredly walked up the long stairway leaving her house. It had been one long, hard day. But then again, once she talked to that Terri girl, she didn't seem so bad. They would have to get together again sometime.   
            She stretched her neck this way and that, and shook out her sore feet. Terri had insisted they play a game of DDR, and one game turned into many. The odd thing was that Kagome only bought one token, yet she never seemed to run out. She strongly suspected that, given the owner of the arcade, she could play anything for free there from now on.

            But now she was home. A sound from behind her caught her attention, and she turned around. InuYasha was rounding the corner in his street clothes, and walking up the stairs behind her. She blushed suddenly, and turned around. She hadn't thought about him all afternoon!

            She began walking again, but InuYasha's stride was longer than hers. Soon he caught up with her, and fell in beside her. Complete silence save the _tap tap tap_ of their feet. 

            "So…" Kagome said finally, as they reached the top of the stairs. "How did your little practice thing go?" 

            InuYasha nodded. "Pretty good." He said. "Lled gonna be out of town for a little while, so I'll have the practice room to myself for once." 

            Kagome sighed. "Well." She said. "I was actually thinking that we should go back to the past pretty soon. We need to find Miroku and Sango as soon as possible." 

            InuYasha nodded. "You wanted to go back tomorrow?" 

            "Well, it sounded as good a day as any." Kagome said, avoiding InuYasha's gaze. "So, why not?" 

            InuYasha shrugged. "Well then, we probably wanna grab our supplies tonight. That way we can get an early start in the morning." 

            Kagome turned to face him in shock. "Are you actually planning ahead?" She asked. That was _not _InuYasha-ish. 

            InuYasha growled at her. "Well, yeah! The sooner we can find Miroku and Sango and the fox twerp, the sooner we can get go on trying to find Naraku and the jewel shards." He crossed his arms, and held his nose up with a 'feh.' 

            Kagome rolled her eyes. "Right." She said.   
            InuYasha rolled his eyes back. "Right." He mimicked. 

            "Cut it out." Kagome said, and punched him lightly on the shoulder. InuYasha's eyes widened, and he caught her hand in midair. He brought it to his nose, and sniffed it.

            "You have the scent of a hanyou on you again." He murmured. 

            Kagome blinked. "I have the smell again?" She asked. They hadn't been able to figure out what it had been last time. "Well, I did go the mall again. I was brushing up against people all day, so I guess maybe…" 

            InuYasha growled slightly. "So, there's a hanyou around here, eh?" He asked. "I wanna meet him." 

            Kagome pulled her hand away. "Later." She said firmly. "We look for Miroku and Sango first." 

InuYasha regarded her carefully, than nodded.

*****

            Tiamet smiled slightly as the last of the gamers left for the night. She had found her calling in life at last. She got to play games all day long, and never have to worry about a thing. As the last of the people left, she made her round to make sure nobody was left in the arcade, then began to lock up shop. It was then that Gell appeared. She turned around as she approached her, crossing her arms, and raising an eyebrow. "Can I help you, Gelledius?" She asked. 

            Gell smiled at her, rubbing his black, neatly trimmed beard. "Well, Tia." He said. "I'm glad to see your wardrobe has improved." He said, noting her clothing was slightly less scant than it was five hundred years ago. "You've managed to mature slightly I guess." 

            Tia shrugged, and finished closing the metal barrier that locked off the arcade. "Well," She said. "I have had five hundred years." 

            "And you've managed to grow up a whole year in that time." Gell said. "Impressive." 

            "Shut up, Gell." 

            "Don't call me Gell, Tia, dear." Gelledius stated dusting off the white Karate gi he wore. "I'm gonna go see Celest this weekend." 

            Tiamet raised an eyebrow. "That's right." She said. "You like the name Lled better now, don't you. Why are you gonna go see Celest?" 

            Lled stretched, and yawned. "I ran into InuYasha this week." He said. "I wanna know what I can say and what I can't, given the time travel circumstances." 

            Tiamet nodded. "How odd. I saw Kagome just today." 

            Lled smiled. "Really? Than you should probably come too." 

            Tiamet nodded. "Well, I suppose the kids of Tokyo could do without their videogames for a weekend." She mused. "Then, let's go." 

            Lled smiled, and they walked off into the crowd of the mall, just two faces among a million. 


	11. Pirates and serpents and dragons, OH MY!

            Captain Morgan was getting nervous. The white city was getting closer and closer. The _banana __Co._was going faster and faster. And something had launched itself from the pier of the white city, and was coming at them. Fast. 

            He couldn't quite tell what it was yet. It looked like it had wings. But he wasn't trusting his eyes, as it also looked like it was surrounded with flame. 

            "I think we might have a problem." He said to the waves cresting in front of him. 

            _Such as? _Came the reply, soft and fluid. 

            "Well, there seems to be something heading for us." Morgan observed. It _definitely _looked like it was covered in flames. 

            _Something?_

"Aye." Morgan said, nodding. Definitely flame covered. "Something." 

            _A bad looking something or a friendly looking something?_

"I would have to say a bad looking something." He noted, as the thing sped up. They were rushing towards one another at very high speeds. 

            _How close is it? _

"I would say," Morgan's eyes narrowed as hew took the estimate. "Oh, about at the pretty close level."

            _Thank you for your helpfulness. _The voice said dryly. 

            "Make that exceedingly close." Morgan said, watching the thing grow in his vision. "It's got flames on it." 

            _Right. Hold on._

And suddenly the _Banana Trading Co. _Sped up another ten knots. Morgan's mouth tightened, and he gritted his teeth. They were playing chicken with a flaming ball of death. Yeehaw. 

            "Very close." He announced, his lips thinning. His left hand gripped the mast for balance against the bouncing of the ship. He had never been on a ship moving this fast before. They were literally leaving the water. It made him feel like he was flying. His eyes narrowed against the approaching fireball, and his right hand wandered to the cutlass at his belt. He liked the feeling of flying. Flying and Fighting. In that moment, that was all there was to life. And drinking. And stealing. Yeah… that was all. Wait! There was Women somewhere in there too… Was that all? Yeah. That was all. 

            Morgan was suddenly jolted back to reality by a particularly strong wave, and fixed his hazel eyes ahead on the fireball. He could now see the thing inside it. It had wings, long skeletal bat-like wings, and they were red. Almost instantly Morgan's memory resounded with his teachings from the catholic school he had gone to as a young lad. Surely all that talk of demons and such hadn't been true!

            The thing was almost on them now, coming closer, and closer. Morgan waited, his cutlass ready. The thing swooped down to the deck, burning towards him swiftly. Morgan grimaced, and swung the cutlass expertly. He felt the satisfying smack of metal hitting flesh. As far as he knew, demons didn't have flashed that went _Shluck_ when it got sliced into. That was a good sign. But then his sword kept going, faster than before even. It was much lighter now. Morgan, off balance, gasped, and fell over one of the benches on the small deck. 

            "Ow." He muttered, and looked at his sword. He blinked. He was no longer holding a sword. Just a hunk of charred wood. He also noticed a searing pain in his hand. He looked left, and right. Red, glowing, liquid metal pattered the hull of the _Banana_ here and there. 

            A high voice, wavering between maturity and youth said something, and laughed. 

            Morgan looked up, rubbing his burned hand. 

            Standing above him, feet a solid foot above the hell of the ship was a young girl. She was dressed all in red. Well, technically, what she was wearing wouldn't really have counted as dressed in any society, but it was still red. It looked like it was made of scales, or _something_, and covered only what absolutely needed to be covered. Normally, Morgan wouldn't mind an outfit like that. But two things bothered him about this girl. First, she was only about thirteen. Morgan made a specific code not to hit on anything younger than fifteen. It was a matter of reputation. Second, this girl was floating. She had long, leathery draconic wings sprouting from her back. Her hair was crimson, long, and flowed wildly down her bare back. Her eyes matched the color. She had long, claw-like nails, and she was still wreathed in flames. Morgan could feel the heat coming off her. Maybe she was a demon. He had heard of Succubi before. Maybe she was one of those. But then again, she was too young. Maybe she was a succubi who got kicked out of hell for not doing her job right. 

            She laughed at him, and said something again. She spoke in a weird tongue. It took Morgan a few seconds to recognize it as Japanese. But the accent was weird, and he couldn't understand a few of the words she used. She was saying something about being sorry for the sword, and him being silly. 

            "Bloody hell." He muttered, and slowly started making the transition into his Japanese mode of thinking. 

            "You really shouldn't" Something something something "When I'm" Something "Fiery like that, you" Something something. 

            "Hola?" Morgan asked. "Como estas?" 

            A look of confusion crossed the girls face.         

            Crap. Wrong language… Hmm… Japanese…. Japanese… Lessee, not Spanish, not French… not Mandarin. Arabic? No… There we go! Japanese! 

            "Konichiwa?" Morgan hazarded, sure he had mispronounced it. 

            The girl's eyes brightened. "Ah!" She said happily. Her speech was becoming easier to understand now. "You _do _speak Japanese. Good." 

            "Umm…" Morgan said, staggering to his feet. Carefully, he crouched down in a fighting stance, and grabbed the claymore from his back. "Can I help you?" 

            The girl looked at him suspiciously. "Maybe…" she said. "Why are you here?" 

            Morgan blinked. This could be some of the trouble the voice had warned him about. He did notice that she had been silent for the past few moments. "Just vacationing?" He said tentatively, holding the claymore in a defensive stance.  "I've heard you Japanese have lovely summers." 

            The girl smiled at him, and patted him on the head (she had to hover up another half foot to reach, to Morgan's satisfaction). "Well, then. You enjoy your vacation." She said happily. "Now, I need to talk to your friend."   
            To Morgan's surprise, she turned around, and 'walked' strait to the prow. Morgan, witching her interestedly, vaguely noticed that the ship was no longer moving. The girl 'stepped' down onto the prow, up to the very tip, and balanced there perfectly, her feet now touching the wood. "Hello, Kiriln!" She called down into the water. "Nice to see you again, dear!" 

            Morgan blinked. That didn't really sound like the call of an enemy. 

            _Hello, Tiamet. _Said the voice from the sea in Japanese. The voice sounded tired and distraught. 

            Morgan's eyes widened. Tiamet was a dragon from Norse mythology. This was going to be interesting. 

            "What brings you to this part of the ocean?" The girl, Tiamet asked innocently. Her aura of fire had condensed to a ball in her hand, and she unconsciously tossed it up and down while she spoke. 

            _I think you know that, Tiamet. _The voice responded, sounding impatient. _Is Atma near?_

Tiamet shook her head. "She went to see Vadise right before I sensed you." She said. "But I think she might know you're here." 

            _Her senses are better than yours. _The voice agreed nonchalantly. 

            Tiamet's eyes narrowed. "That wasn't nice." She remarked. 

            _But true. _

            "Shut up!" The red haired girl commanded, hurling her ball of fire down towards the sea. It exploded in a geyser of steam. Morgan swallowed. He could only assume this Kiriln person was his client. 

            Morgan's attention was temporarily distracted from the very interesting conversation a small sound from behind him. He turned around, and froze. Rising out of the water by a long, smooth neck, was a head. It was slightly wolf-like in shape, but covered in long, blue-green crystalline scales. Its eyes were a deep piercing blue, and shone in a slight hint of merriment. Two pairs of long horns flowed gracefully back out of its thick, plated eyebrow ridges. Smaller horns ran along the bottom of its jaws, and on either side of its head, there were little frills. The entire head was about three feet long. 

            Most things didn't shock Morgan. Morgan had that uncanny gift of having completely practical thoughts about everything. It took him less than a split second to realize who and what his client was. Dragons always had treasure. It was common knowledge. He was being hired be a dragon. A sea dragon, but a dragon none the less. Morgan + Completed service to dragon = Rich Morgan. The pirate's face cracked a grin. 

            Tiamet was still staring down into the water, away from the dragon's head. 

            A second appendage rose out of the water. This one appeared to be a tail, with a heavy, needle like tip. It rose up, and tapped Tiamet on the shoulder. 

            Tiamet turned around irritably. "What?" She demanded. "I'm talkin' here!" 

            The tail caught her across the face and sent her flying across the water. She hit the surface, and bounced with a great burst of steam, the skipped again, and again, leaving a burst of steam with each hit. 

            Morgan crossed his arms, and nodded appreciatively. "You know." He said. "You get the farthest distance out of something like that if you hit them up at a forty five degree angle."   
            The dragon leveled her head with him. "Yeah." She said, actually speaking now. Her voice was deep, and rumbled through the ship, yet still managed to be feminine. "But then she doesn't skip as much. It's funner this way." 

            Morgan nodded. "So, your name's Kiriln?" He asked. 

            Kiriln nodded. "Yeah." She said. "Surprised?" 

            Morgan shook his head. "Not really. Mysterious voices that magically come out a the sea are normally kinda abnormal." 

            Kiriln blinked. "Well, then, we had better get going." She said. "Tia's going to be pissed when she dries off." 

            Morgan looked at her, curious. "Why don't you just finish her?" He asked. 

            Kiriln chuckled softly. "We weren't really fighting." She said. "That's Tiamet. She's one of my old friends. She'll probably be one our biggest allies here." 

            Morgan looked up at her with disbelief. "Even after you smacked her up like that?" 

            Kiriln nodded. "Yeah." She said. "She can take it." With that thought, she disappeared back beneath the water, and within seconds they were moving again, the wind (along with a long stream of curses from Tiamet) at their backs. 

*****

            Aaron yawned slightly, and the chopsticks fell of his nose. He didn't really care now. He had broken the record several minute ago, so it was no big deal. But he was bored again. He stood up, and quickly began taking down weapons from his wall, and sheathing them into random convenient spots. It was time to go out and have some fun. 

*****

            Morgan and Kiriln were practically at the pier when Tiamet caught up to them. Morgan was the first to spot her, as his head was the one above the water. She was flying towards them again, faster than she had been the first time. 

            The second the ship brushed against the pier, Morgan was off. The logical part of his mind was working again. Fire girl + Ship = Fire girl – ship. He didn't want the firefight getting anywhere near his only ticket out of here. 

            "Hey, Kiriln!" He called out to the waves. "You sea-bound?" 

            The beast breached the surface, and casually smacked the surprised Tiamet away. "Yeah." She growled, weaving her serpentine head back and forth. "I can change my form, like Tiamet can." 

            Morgan blinked. "So, she's a dragon too?" 

            Kiriln nodded her head, and dipped below the surface, getting ready for a surprise attack. _Us dragons aren't really what you would call 'normal' as far as beasts go. _ 

            "I don't think that girl would be normal as far as anything goes." He remarked, staring at Tiamet as she recovered from her second bat, and came flying back at the pier. 

            Morgan looked around as there was another smack of a tail, and Tiamet went flying again. It was a very nice pier. Now he had a chance to really look at it. It was made of some sort of white stone. It wasn't marble, like some of the buildings were. Maybe it was alabaster, or sandstone. It seemed to be built right out of the seabed, no supports or anything. And the buildings themselves were beautiful, carved out of marble, and alabaster, and all other white stones. Whoever lived here would have to be rich. He smiled, and turned around again. 

            He could tell the two dragons were friends. They were obviously not trying to hurt each other. Well, not really obviously, but, they weren't hurting each other non the less. Kiriln was currently trying desperately to spear the smaller girl with her tail. Morgan nodded, and smiled. They would be at it for a while, if he had any judgment of the situation. 

            He turned around, and smiled. Time to pick some pockets. As he walked down the streets, he briefly reflected on his week. Monday, he was running from the British and Spanish navies. Tuesday, Kiriln shows up, in the form of a disembodied voice from under the sea. She takes out the navy, and employs him. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, heading here. Saturday, attack by a fire toting, maniacal little girl, and just as quickly gets informed that she is one of his allies. He was actually rather proud of how he had managed himself. He always did have a cool head. But this was just a work of art! And besides, he got some money out of it. He would have to have explanations later, of coarse, but there would be time for that once he needed to know what was going on. Now, he needed a drink, a woman, and some money. 

            He grinned, and stalked off into the city, looking for purses to slit. 

*****

            Woot! Well, it took me long enough! Sorry, I've been having some major writers block, (I'm still getting out of it, so this wasn't the greatest of chapters.) Also, this is not a complete chapter. My computer's being stupid, so the second part should be coming soon. Sorry. 

            Okay, some quick responses. 

            Time's Mortal Enemy: Thanks very much. On your criticism about the mystery, the lack of it kind of on purpose. As you could already tell by the meeting between Sesshoumaru and the dragons, they are in 'we're fighting a war here' mode, and as a result, the dragons, except for Kiriln and Vadise aren't keeping as many secrets as they normally would. I'm trying to make Menomaru kind of a mystery right now, as well as what Kiriln is doing here. 

            Jessica T it's me: Thanks a bunch. One word though. Oni and Shin were always Menomaru's servants They just didn't have their powers while they were separated from him, hence the reason they were looking. Oh, and real quick,

            DICLAIMER: Oni and Shin are NOT mine. They are in the first InuYasha movie (The love which transcends time) which this fic is vaugly modeled after! They didn't have names in the movie, so I gave them names, but other than that they are not mine! 

            Tiger of the Wind: WHOOHOO! Hey, I love you! I mean, you are mega awesome! The coolest every, in fact. Keep up the good work on your own fics, and thanks for all the reviews on mine. Oh, by the way. I was on an RPG fanart site known as IcyBrian. There was someone named Tiger of the Wind there, as well. Was that you? If so, then you're a really good artist as well as a really good writer. Folks, if you haven't checked out tiger's fics, you need to. I'd say that their easily some of the best on the InuYasha section! READ THEM!            

And about Morgan. Piracy is a bad, bad, bad thing. You shouldn't do it. At times, Morgan will make piracy look fun. This doesn't mean you should go and keel haul your cat. That would be mean. Also, he is very opinionated about women, and alcohol (He _was _named after a spiced rum, after all). Garret Jax Inc. Would like everyone to know that the views, opinions, and general weirdness of Cap'n Morgan in no way reflects of the opinions and views of Garret Jax. I don't drink (I'm only sixteen, after all) and I firmly believe in equality between men and wenches. WOMEN! Women! I meant women. Don't hurt me. 

            Anywho, it's late and I need to clean my room before my parents get home, so toodles! More tomorrow


	12. Nobody pirates a pirate!

            Woah! Sorry, this is way late! I promised it on Monday, and now it's Saturday. Sorry about that. 

            One quick thing: I mistyped last chapter. I'm actually seventeen, but I didn't actually catch it when I was editing. I feel stupid. GAH! *Hit's self in head.*

            Okay, some quick comments: 

            She Who Is Me: Hey, nice pic. Unfortuately, my image of InuTaisho is much different, however, I might change that. 

            Orion: As usual, thank you for your kind words, and yes, IU like writing for Morgan. As you can hopefully tell, I'm trying to be very perspective-esque with him. It's even more fun, because he comes from fifteenth century Europe, which is something that's very easy to mock. Please, tell me how you like the writing style I use with him, and what would make it better! 

            RobinofYJ: Hehe, thank you, even if I am seventeen. As soon as I get finished with this particular InuYasha series of fanfiction (Planning on making it a trilogy) I'm hoping to do some original work on fiction press. I really want to be an author once I get out of collage! 

            Noki-San009: I actually only have the first movie. I heard the second one takes place after the group defeats Naraku, so I want to avoid spoilers, so I'm waiting to see it. But then again, I might very well just go ahead and get it, if it takes to long to find a place to get the rest of the series. (Well, aside from buying them, of coarse. I mean, I'm poor. I can't actually buy my anime. I have to just wait for the *#)(*%() Adult Swim to get more on, or occasionally find a place on a computer where I can watch them. (I like the latter better, but unfortunately I don't have that option right now, so I wait.) Sigh! And I have played the game. I unfortunately didn't find it that fun. It was way to simplistic, really easy to beat, and I had the whole thing mastered within two hours. Sigh… I've never actually seen a game based of an anime that I've actually enjoyed. That's too bad. Had they made it more like, say, a KOF game, of even better, capcom vs. SNK, it would have been much better. Oh, well… Too bad. 

            Shadow with green eyes: Man, oh man did you just make my day. Thank you so much. It's reviews like yours that are the essence of my life… even if I am really seventeen. Sorry about the mistype, but I'll still take all the compliments, thank you. 

            Storm-Maker: Thank you. I'm trying to make Morgan very opinionated, but in a weird way. He's going to be all my satire pulled into one character. 

            Koneko-Chan star: Well, I'm not sure. I think that for my third fic I'm going to actually have the finale of the series, (You know, have Naraku die, and do whatever I'm going to do with the pairings… and NO! You can't know how the pairing turn out. That's my own secret.) Unfortunately, I haven't seen castle beyond the looking glass. I've heard that it takes place after Naraku is destroyed, and so I want to finish the series before watching it, (As stated in my response to Noki-San). Unfortunately, I am poor, and cannot offord the series on Ebay, so I am limited to Adult swim, and attempting to locat fansubs on the computer. I don't suppose you could tell me where I could find some… Please? However, I do have plans for other fics. I've got two AU fics I want to do, as well as a slightly more original fic about the life of Atma and Vadise. Also, I have a few videogame fics I want to do. But, I digress! Thank you for the kind words!

            Dreamangel: Thank you, as usual. 

            And now, to everyone. Another disclaimer about Morgan. He's going to be my satire character, particularly about the fifteenth century catholic church, and other European culture thingies. This does _not _mean the church of today! Please, don't get angry at me for the things he says. I think we can all agree that the church was much different back then, eh?

            Also: Quite a few scenes I use in this fic, you can see on the first InuYasha movie. However, not in the actual movie. Go to the extra real (Second to last option on the scene select) and press the skip scene button. You should come to a reel of really awesome little clips from things that look like they are from the first movie, but look much spiffier. I gaurente you'll be pleased if you watch them. 

            Now, after I have blabbed for more than a page so I can get my word count up, on to the fic!

*****

Not a bad haul. Not a bad haul at all. Morgan held up his hand. In between each finger there was a glistening jewel. They would be worth a decent sum… he couldn't sell them here, of coarse, but there would be other places. 

            This city was odd… it was confusing, and jumbled, and there weren't enough people. Well, not real people. After seeing what for all sakes and appearances seemed to be a werewolf walking down the street, Morgan had decided that Japan wasn't the most ideal of places to vacation. Then he had seen all the money the werewolf had on him, he had changed his mind. He grinned down at the jewels again. He might take a few more vacations here. 

            Continuing down the street, he began noticing something. The occasional people on the street weren't human. He had noticed that almost immediately, of course, but now he was noticing the humans, as well. They were there, all around. But they were hard to notice. They walked indistinctly, and clearly didn't want to be noticed. They were very obviously good at not being noticed. And they wore chains. 

            He had seen it before. They were doing it to the blacks, right now in Europe. Stupid, that. Granted he was the oddball. Blacks were obviously inferior. God obviously made them so serve the white superiors. A smile quirked on Morgan's mouth. It was funny. The first people weren't black or white, and weren't they God's chosen? He shrugged, sidestepping one of the pathetic looking humans. That was the way life went, he supposed. 

            His hand darted out to his right, quickly, and came back, holding a few more jewels. All the critters here were so well dressed! It looked like a fashion show! A fashion show with lots of rubies… in easy to reach places. 

            He sighed happily, and quickly pushed some of the gems into a pocket on the inside of his coat. 

            Take a few steps, dart the arm out, catch the jewels, a few more steps, dart arm out again… and so it went, until the people on the street stopped walking by. They started running. And screaming. And waving their arms frantically. It was the actions of people running from something. 

            A woman with a snake tail slithered by, bleeding profusely. At least the blood was red, Morgan reflected as he snatched a ruby off of her clothing. At least these people were off their guard. He turned around again as the stampede passed him, avoiding being trampled carefully, and picking up several more precious stones while he was at it. 

            Now there was nobody on the street, except for what was very obviously the thing the monsters had been running from. Not many things shocked Morgan. But as he turned around to see what the hideous monster was, he let out a slight yell of horror, and his mind slipped into mono-thought mode. 

            _Pink! _Was the first one. 

            _Green! _Was the next. 

            _Sword! _

_            Spear!_

_            Big!_

_            Hair!_

_            Blonde!_

_            Smile!_

_            Teeth! _

Finally, Morgan's thoughts finally came together. Standing before him, was a tall blonde human. He was wearing a bright, fluorescent pink neon coat, and a neon green pair of those baggy Japanese pants. His hair was… big. And blonde. He had a big grin on his face, and was laughing slightly. In each hand there was a curved, Japanese blade. On his back were two long spears. There were daggers strapped across his chest. On his rope belt were the sheaths to the katanas. 

            The man was walking slowly. He walked happily past Morgan, a plaintive expression on his face. "Oh, c'mon!" He yelled. "I didn't hit you that hard! Come back! I'm bored!" Morgan cast a sidelong glance at the man. The sheath to one of his katanas looked very nice. It had little gold inlays all over the place. 

            The man sighed, and went to sheath his swords. His sheaths, however, were no longer there. HE turned around to face Morgan. The pirate was trying to peel the gold off with the tip of a knife. The man blinked, and then crossed his arms. "Can I help you?" He asked. 

            Morgan shook his head. "Nope." He said, "S'okay. I'm good." 

            The man nodded, and crossed his arm. "Oh, Okay." He said, and pulled out a dagger. "Cause, y'know, I'm happy to help." 

            Morgan looked up at him, and tossed him the second sheath. "Go ahead and start on the second one." He said, still poking at one of the gold inlays. "I'll come help as soon as I'm done with this one." 

            "Great, great." The man said, picking at the gold. "So, why are we taking the gold of my swords, anyway?" 

            "I'm a pirate." Morgan said amiably. "I steal things." 

            "Oh, I see." The man said, getting one of the gold inlays off, and starting on the next. "So, you a captain, or just a crew member?" 

            "I'm a captain." Morgan said, pocketing one of the inlays, and chipping more. "Captain Morgan. Me ships in the harbor." 

            The man nodded. "Yeah, well. My name's Aaron. I'm one of the free humans around here." He said, as if he was stating some amazing fact. "So, you here pillaging with a crew, or by yourself?" 

            "Well, I ran into some trouble a while back, so I'm doing a little mercenary work right now. My current client is back with the ship, so I thought I'd just take off, and slit a few purses." 

            Aaron shrugged. "Well, this is the place to do it." He remarked. "All the youkai here have pretty fancy stuff." 

            Morgan pursed his lips. "Youkai? Izzat what they are? I heard legends before, but…" 

            Aaron nodded, finishing up on the sheath, and handing the gild inlays to Morgan. "Yep." He said. "Youkai is what they are. They're allot more common here than in the rest of Japan. Your new here aren't you." 

            Morgan nodded back, pocketing the rest of the inlays, and holding the bare sheath out to Aaron. "Yeah." He said. "I've visited once, but that was only for a few days a few years ago. My main trip was to china." 

            Aaron grinned, and sheathed his katanas. "Yeah." He said. "I've been to china before. Stumbled into that one place with all the weird cursed springs that turn you into different things." He gave Morgan a plaintive look. "I saw someone fall into the spring of the drowned aardvark then into the spring of the drowned flying squirrel five minutes later. That was a laugh." 

            Morgan shrugged. "yeah, I heard of that place. Never actually went there though." 

            Aaron smiled at him. "Reasonable." He said. "It's in a pretty obscure part of Japan, so I won't hold it against you." 

            Morgan nodded. "Yes well," He said, walking off. "It was a pleasure doing business with you." 

            Aaron nodded. "Oh, any time, any time. You should come over some time, we'll do lunch!" 

            Morgan nodded, and walked off down the street. It was only until he was some fifty feet away that he stopped, and looked back down into the pocket he had put the gold it. It was gone. He whipped around again, and looked at the quickly retreating figure that was Aaron. How? Why? What? When? 

            Morgan scowled. Nobody stole from Captain Morgan, of the _Banana Trading Co. # 7! _

He tore off down the street after the blonde haired thief. 

*****

            "Vadise!" Atma's voice echoed through the forest. "Vadise!" The dragon was attempting to make her way through the thick leaves. "Vadise! Where the hell are you?" 

            Atma's cloak was torn slightly, from trekking through the jungle. Underneath the cloak was a thick, black breastplate with shoulder guards and an inlayed ruby on the collar. Under the armor was a thick, baggy, midnight blue suit, to keep the armor from chafing. Granted, Atma didn't really need to worry about such things, but it made her look cool, so she stuck with it. 

            She winced as a tree branch suddenly fell, and broke itself over her head. Why the hell did Vadise have to live in the god-forsaken, bug infested, sorry excuse for a forest? As soon as the thought crossed her mind, the trees around her seemed to twitch, and grow tighter together, denying her any passage. 

            A low, feral growl escaped from Atma's throat, directed at the trees. "If you don't get out of my way, _right _now, I'm personally going to strip every one of your leaves and use them as a salad." She growled at the tree in front of her. 

            This wasn't a normal forest, and Atma wasn't in the least bit surprised when the trees suddenly moved out of her way. They didn't actually get up and walk, but they simply moved. It was quite a work of art, actually, and Atma was still working on how Vadise managed it. 

            The tree's continued to move, until she had a strait path. She grinned to herself, and stalked on through, her booted feet crushing thick grass beneath her feet. She stalked down the living tunnel, and finally emerged in a small clearing. In the clearing there was a pool, and sitting near the pool, bare feet dangling in the water, was a girl. She had white hair, a white, billowy, baggy silken suit, and a long white tail. Her skin was a dark tan, with darker stripes all over. 

            "Vadise!" Atma smiled warningly. "Did you give the Tetsusaiga back to InuYasha?" 

            The girl near the pool of water smiled, and wiggled her feet, causing ripples to spread out through the surface. "Not yet." She said. 

            "Than how is it that InuYasha has the Tetsusaiga?" She demanded. "Aaron specifically said he saw it." 

            Vadise didn't look up from the water. She seemed to be watching something of great interest. "I said I haven't given it to him _yet_." She said, her voice innocent and girlish. 

            Atma growled at her. "I'm not in the mood for your games, Vadise." 

            Vadise chuckled only slightly, and looked up, her eyes a startling, bright emerald green. "No games, Atma. InuYasha has a Tetsusaiga, and so do I. Does this complicate things?" 

            Atma gaped at her a moment. "But…" She sputtered, "_How?_" 

            Vadise chuckled. "I already decided." She said. "I will give InuYasha Tetsusaiga in the future. It will give me time to study it, and he can still have the Tetsusaiga now to use." 

            Atma practically choked. "You mean…" She left it hanging. 

            "There are now two Tetsusaigas, yes." She said, smiling. "Isn't that just fun?" 

            "No!" Atma exploded. "If Menomaru gets a hold of the Tetsusaiga he could receive Menomaru's power!" 

            Vadise nodded. "I guess that means you should probably not let Menomaru get a hold of the Tetsusaiga then." She remarked, looking back at the water. "Now, I need some things from you." She said. 

            Atma's eyes narrowed. "You just made me angry." She remarked. "Why should I help you?" 

            "Because if you don't I will obliterate you from existence." Vadise said simply, poking at a fish just below the water. 

            "You wouldn't dare." Atma began. 

            Vadise didn't move. But the tree next to Atma vanished. Not teleported, or blown up. It was just gone. There was no sign. The ground where it had stood was completely unbroken. 

            Atma gave a disconcerted look towards where the tree had been, and turned back. "What do you need?" She asked, obviously put out. 

            "I need to borrow Kohaku." She said. "Sango and Miroku will be getting here very soon, and he might be useful for helping the youkai slayer." 

            Atma, scowling angrily, nodded slowly. "I'll get him to you before they get here." She thought a moment. "What are you going to do about repairing the monk's Kazanaa?" 

            Vadise smiled. "You let me worry about that." She said simply. She stared intently into the water. Flickering briefly across the surface were the images of a monk in midnight blue robes being carried by a girl in a deep purple, baggy outfit. "They should be here by tomorrow, if Kirara reaches them tonight. You should leave." 

            Atma nodded, scowling. 

            "And Atma, dear?" The young girl said happily, still looking into the water. 

            "Hmm?" Atma inquired. 

            "Kiriln is not our enemy…" Vadise said, and closed her eyes. 

            Atma's eyes widened. "What?" She whispered, then instantly closed her eyes, stretching out her mind, searching towards Shinjuku. Her eyes snapped open, and narrowed angrily. "She's here!" She seethed, and looked towards the demon city. The trees didn't even wait for her command to get out of her way. 


	13. Dark Dreams

            Roar! Hehe. I'm a monster. 

            Okay, now that that's out of my system, I'm gonna actually say some stuff. 

            I don't have time for many comments, but one quick one. Recently I got asked for a cameo appearance. I will rarely do this unless I have a golden opportunity, and as luck would have it I have one. Just two words of advice: One man's gold is another reviewer's absolute horror, and be careful what you whish for. See if you can spot the cameo. Thank you. 

*****

            _Houshi-Sama… _

            The voice was gentle, smooth, and warm. 

            _Houshi-Sama…_

Miroku had no interest of anything of the sort. 

            _Houshi-Sama…_

The voice was growing slightly more insistent. It was getting harder not respond. Was this death? 

            _Houshi-Sama._

Miroku's eyes snapped open. Yes. Definitely Death. He was floating, to the best of his knowledge. It was dark. He couldn't see a thing. Not even his own hand. He couldn't really feel anything either. He didn't even know if he _had _a hand anymore. Granted, he couldn't have felt anything when he was alive either. The paralysis had slowly spread through his body. Sango had been carrying him the past several days. He had just been slowing her down, and without being to move, he didn't have much of a life, anymore. Maybe he was better being dead. 

            _You probably would be. _The soft voice agreed with a giggle. 

            Miroku's eyes widened, and he tried to move. No such luck. Paralyzed in death. That was very, very bad. What a boring afterlife. 

            _Nonsense. _The voice contradicted. _From what I've heard, death is very interesting. And you can't be paralyzed when you're dead. _

Miroku's eyes narrowed. "You can read my thoughts." He stated, not knowing what on earth he was talking to. 

            _Remarkable. _The voice stated, and giggled again. _You seem to pick up on things faster than some. _

"Who are you?" Miroku asked. 

            _My name is my own. _The voice informed him primly. 

"Where am I?" 

            _It would appear that you are floating a void of total darkness. Isn't that something?_

 "Why am I floating in a void of total darkness?" Miroku asked carefully, trying to keep aware. "If I'm not dead, then what's going on?" 

            There was a light chuckle. _And now we get to the important questions. You are here because I want you to be. _

"And why, pray tell, is that?" 

            _Because you are dying, and so are all your friends. You have lived up until this point on blind luck. While as fun as relying on luck is, I'm finally stepping in to make sure your around a little while longer. _

"And why would you do that?" 

            _Because I feel like it. Any questions?_

"A great many." Miroku murmured. "What do you mean we're dying?" 

            _I mean that the injuries and effects of that the fight with Morkleb had on you will eventually lead to your death, whereupon Sango, who is using you as a post tying her soul to this world, will no longer have that, and quickly depart, concordantly leaving Shippo with no protection whatsoever. _

Miroku inwardly froze. "What about Sango?" He demanded. 

            _Oh, come, now, Houshi. You are really going to tell me that you haven't noticed it? You can see the deadness in Sango's eyes. They eyes are a window to the soul. Sango is healthy on the outside, but inside, she is dying. _

"Why?" 

            The chuckle came again. _Always with the whys… Well, then, I suppose I'll tell you. You see, your wind-tunnel is not simply a void, as one would think. It is actually a one way gate, as it were. Beyond this gate lies a place where living creatures from this world were not meant to go. Sango, in an effort to save you, went through this place. This place warps things… particularly souls. Sango's soul is being changed. However, she is unconsciously fighting tooth and nail. The result is that her soul is being torn apart. _

Miroku closed his eyes. "What can I do?" 

            _The change will come, sure as the tide. She must simply stop fighting it. She is running the wrong way. She is running away from the change, and the events of that night, but she must stop, and turn around. _

Miroku sighed. "How do I do this?" 

            _You must simply be there for her. As long as you are there, she will _not _let herself go. She seems to have bound her soul to you, but that won't protect her much longer. You must bring her to me. _

"And how could I do that? I can't move."

            _Oh, right. I forgot about that. You can move now._

"What do you mean?" Miroku demanded, whipping around, and glaring at the direction the voice was coming from. Then he looked down and blinked. He moved one hand, then the other. He could feel them, perfectly. He moved his legs, and rolled his shoulders. "How?" he asked, slightly dumbfounded. 

            _Because I want you to be able to walk. It makes things easier. Now, you will help Sango live. _

"How will I find you? Aren't I with you now?" Miroku asked, confused. 

            _Technically, we're in your head. You're sleeping right now. It'll be morning in about an hour. _

Miroku was silent for a moment. He still couldn't see who was talking to him. "So this is just a dream?" That was somehow disappointing. 

            _Yep. Melodramatic, isn't it. But it's the easiest way to communicate with you. Your minds are off guard when you're sleeping, so I can wiggle in and use whatever I find to communicate with you. _

"So is this real or not?" 

            _Do you really want to get into the philosophical definition of real? I had to think about that one a really long while before I came to a decent conclusion. Took about seventy eight years, if memory serves. _

Miroku's eyes widened. "What are you?" He demanded. 

            _You probably couldn't even comprehend that. _The voice remarked. _Suffice to say that I am a friend for now. _

"And how will I find you then?"  

            _An old friend will show you the way. You must simply let her find you. _

"I see…" Miroku said. 

            _Whoop! _The voice said with a giggle. _Sorry, the sun's coming up. Now, wake up._

Miroku blinked and 

*****

            sat up, breathing hard. The sun was barely coming up, and the desert was glowing brightly. Miroku yawned, and rubbed the sleep from his eyes with his good hand. Then he paused. He was moving. His eyes widened, and he moved his good hand in front of his face. Slowly he sat up, and the memories of his dream rushing back to him. So… they did have a friend here after all… or at least, someone who was helping them for some reason. 

            Sango was lying across the meager remains of the camp fire. Shippo was lying near her, sleeping peacefully. He smiled and leaned back against the tree behind him, and shifted his hand through the sand beneath his fingers. It felt good to be able to feel good again. 

Then he realized the obvious, and jumped away from the tree. He turned around quickly, and looked at it. It grew strait up out of the sand. Around the base, the sand was starting to turn into soil. He whipped around, and starred around their little camp. All around them little saplings were growing out of the sand. There were a few big trees, around them, but most of them were saplings. Even as he looked around the green, emerald leaves on the trees began to whither, and fall. Before they hit the ground, they had crumpled into a soft loam the ground around each tree, and immediately new buds began forming on the tips of the branches. Miroku blinked as a new little twig sprouted directly between his feet, and grew a single leaf. He looked behind, where they had come from. There was clear desert there, with only a few little sprigs of tree coming out of the ground. He turned to face the path they had yet to travel. It was riddled with trees, and the soil was growing thicker. He turned around to face the trees around the campsite. They were also growing. And shedding leaves, then growing them back, then shedding again. This was very odd. 

He shrugged, and sighed. Stranger things had happened, though, and they needed to get going. 

*****

Aaron tore down the street at high speed, juggling the pieces of gold as he went. This could be very fun. He hoped this captain Morgan was fast. He looked over his shoulder with a grin, not dropping a single piece of gold. His eyes widened suddenly as he saw the pirate captain sprinting after him, seemingly completely uninhibited by the thick leather boots he wore, and he looked ready to kill. He was gaining. 

Aaron nodded. A good chase indeed. He stopped juggling, and started running, tearing through the streets expertly, dashing past youkai and slaves alike, causing general mayhem and destruction as he went. He stopped suddenly, figuring he had time, and glanced to the side. Standing by the side of the road, looking very put out, was a young girl. She was short, only about five feet tall, and had long, waist-length auburn hair. A light spray of freckles covered her face, and her eyes were a dark, lush green. She looked annoyed, and was muttering about upstart sixteen year olds. 

Aaron raised an eyebrow, and glanced up and down her figure. He grinned, darted in, and suddenly planted his lips on hers. As quick as he was, he dashed out again, threw a piece of gold at her, and dashed away down the street. 

The girl looked aghast, and looked down at the piece of gold. "What the!?" She demanded, outraged. 

The gold was suddenly snatched out from under her hands by a very enraged pirate captain. Morgan was about to chase off after Aaron again, but stopped, cast a glance at the girl, and said: "Arrrrrrr."   
            With that he disappeared down the street, once again chasing Aaron. 

The girl blinked twice in utter confusion, the sighed, shook her head, and went back to muttering. 

As Morgan and Aaron raced through the streets, two shadows dashed across the rooftops above them. 

"These men are idiots, Oni! Why the hell are we following them?" One figure hissed in Chinese. 

"Because, Shin." The other figure said patiently. "People causing this much mischief in Shinjuku will undoubtedly get the attention of lord Sesshoumaru. Then we strike." 

The figures nodded to each other, and dashed away again. 

****

Gah! Once again, sorry for the short chapter. I'll try to make the next one longer. It'll probably end up that way anyway, as it's gonna be a fight scene. Mwahahaha! 

Next chapter: Sesshoumaru vs. Oni and Shin! 

And a quick thing to whomever wanted to know, Aaron has had no past experience with Morgan. That was in the old crappy version of this fic. They have just met for the first time. 

And to Shadow with green Eyes: Please don't flame me. You asked for it. Literally. 


	14. Old enemies

"I don't get it Miroku!" Shippo said loudly, looking around. The desert had all but disappeared now, and the trees were still growing. They were getting very, very big. "How is this possible?"  
    "I don't know Shippo." Miroku said softly. "Lots of impossible things are happening right now."  
     "Like how you can walk?"  
     "Yes..." Miroku said softly, "Much like that."  
    They were weaving their way through thick trees, hanging, mossy creepers, and thick, heavy vines. Sango stalked on in silence; Miroku saw it fit to simply follow her. He kept a single hand on her shoulder, letting her know he was there.  
    "Hey, Miroku?" Shippo asked plaintively. "I'm getting hungry..."  
    The monk scowled. There was no food here... he hadn't seen a single edible plant all day. Too bad lady Kagome wasn't around. She seemed to know a whole lot about plants. Probably from hanging around Kaede so much. "I don't have anything, Shippo. We'll probably have to go without for a little while."  
    Shippo looked to the ground, and his stomach grumbled at the news.  
    Miroku walked on, holding gently onto Sango. They traveled maybe a hundred yards more before Miroku became aware of the thing following them. It was above them, lurking through the trees. He didn't know what it was, but it was distinctly there. He squeezed Sango's shoulder lightly, and gave a nod up when she glanced at him. Slowly, like syrup, she nodded, her eyes not showing any comprehending. Miroku hated those eyes now.  
    He couldn't say anything. Shippo would panic, and run off. They couldn't have that now. They thing was slowly stalking closer and closer to them. Miroku looked down at his right hand. It was still crushed. His wind- tunnel was useless. In other words, so was he. Sango was their only like of defense, and in her state, that was not comforting.  
    Suddenly there was a crash from above them, a sudden roar, and the thing burst forward through the canopy and landed in front of them. Sango's emotionless eyes narrowed, and she dashed forward, breaking the connection with Miroku. Her fists flashed down, and her feet spread in a balanced pose. Dying she might be, but not dead. Her hands came up in a lethal defensive stance.  
*****  
    Sesshoumaru walked down the street placidly, intent on finding the dragons. He had over reacted. He had let his calm die. And now he had to pay for it. He would do as the dragons requested of him. It was their island, and he was their political inferior. Only politically.  
    He walked down the ivory way, ignoring all the people and youkai milling around him. At least he ignored them until Aaron ran by. The man was sprinting at high speed, an ecstatic grin on his face. His blond hair flew wildly around his face like a lion's mane. The second he reached Sesshoumaru, he slammed his foot into the pavement, stopping himself short. He looked up at Sesshoumaru, nodded in acknowledgement, grabbed the tai- youkai's hand, and deposited into it about ten oddly shaped pieces of gold. "Have fun!" The man said, and was instantly gone, sprinting for all his might.  
    Sesshoumaru Looked down at the gold, and looked up again, staring at the street Aaron had come from. There was another human coming towards him. He was dressed oddly, had all black, raggedy hair, tan skin, and a ferocious face. He was holding a five foot long, thick, heavy blade above his head, and was rushing at him as fast as possible.  
    Sesshoumaru inwardly sighed. Just as the man started a downward swing, Sesshoumaru whipped his hand up, dropping the gold, and grabbed the blade by its side, stopping it dead away. But the human on the other end had let go the second the gold left Sesshoumaru's hand. The human dashed under his own blade, grabbed the gold before it could hit the ground, and slammed his shoulder up into Sesshoumaru's stomach. Sesshoumaru's eyes widened slightly, and he stumbled back. The human, having his gold, was already up and running again. He was taking the path that Aaron had taken.  
    Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed. The human was fast. Exceedingly so, in fact. And yet, Sesshoumaru had never before seen him in Shinjuku, and the Tai youkai kept a very good record of slaves. This man was obviously new.  
    Sesshoumaru changed coarse, and walked down the street that the two men had run down.  
    Far above him, on the roofs of the buildings, two figures watched him.  
    "Should we strike now?" One asked.  
    "No..." The other mused. "Let us see how he fares against these two humans. Maybe they will do our work for us."  
  Sango dashed forward, and brought her fist forward expertly. There was a tremendous roar as the cloud of dust around the beast began to clear, and Sango was thrown back. She landed lightly near Miroku in a low crouch, and grimaced.  
    The dust began to clear, and the roar died. As the cloud finally settled, Miroku's and Shippo's eyes widened. There was nothing there. Slowly, their eyes traveled downward, and finally rested on the place the demon would have stood. Standing in the center of the burnt, dusty crater was a small, white fire-cat with black stripes, and striking crimson eyes.  
    "Mew." Said Kirara.  
    Miroku blinked, and cocked his head to the side. _An_ _old friend will guide you..._  
    Sango blinked twice, and slowly dropped to her knees, inspecting the little fire-cat. "Kirara?" She whispered, her voice hoarse.

"Meow." Kirara said affirmatively. "Purr."

            "It's Kirara." Shippo stated, every the observant one. 

            "I see that." Miroku said, nodded. "But… how?" 

            Sango slowly reached out and put her hand on Kirara's head, needing proof that she was real. 

            "Meow." Kirara said authoritatively, and turned around, beginning to walk slowly through the trees. 

            "Kirara…" Sango whimpered softly as the connection from the furry head to her hand was broken. A soft, heavy hand was placed on her shoulder. She looked up to see Miroku standing over her, Shippo perched on his shoulder. He smiled, and pulled her gently to her feet. 

            "Well, I suppose she could know where she's going." Miroku said with a shrug. He wasn't quite sure that he should reveal his dream yet. "Not like we have anywhere to go. Let's follow her." 

            Sango looked up at him, her face fragile. She nodded slowly, and gave him a weak smile. 

*****

            BUSTED! Aaron looked left, and right. It was a dead end. He whipped around, and winced. Morgan was still coming at him, and was looking fit to explode. Aaron grinned wolfishly, and expertly whipped the spear out from behind his back. A chase scene is always best ended with a fight. 

            Morgan was already on him, and quickly brought a foot long dirk up at his chest. "You see, matey, nobody steals from a pirate." 

            "Apparently they do." Aaron contradicted, holding up the final piece of gold, blocking the blow expertly with the haft of the spear. 

            Morgan smiled, and suddenly brought his cutlass around at the blonde warriors head with his left hand. 

            Aaron simply smiled, and blocked again. And then the dance began. Back and fourth across the alley, a quick thrust at the neck, a lightning block, a slash at an ankle, a swift punch. Back and fourth it went, until finally the two combatants leapt away. Morgan was breathing hard, and had a light cut on his right cheek. Aaron was laughing his head off. "Wow!" He said happily. "You fight really dirty. I don't see that too often." 

            Morgan held up a finger. "Pirate." He reminded the blonde man. 

            "So that is the explanation." A soft, monotone, controlled voice said from behind him. "You are a pirate." 

            Morgan didn't turn around, but nodded slowly. "Aye." He said. "'m a pirate." 

            Aaron looked past Morgan. Sesshoumaru was standing just a few feet beyond him. This would get interesting fast. "This is Captain Morgan." Aaron said to Sesshoumaru. "He's here on vacation." 

            Sesshoumaru nodded slowly, and began to circle Morgan. "If you are a pirate, then you would bee stealing things?" Sesshoumaru asked, his voice soft and cool. 

            Morgan's eyes were drawn to the tai-youkai as he came into his field of view. "Aye… I steal things." He said. "This city makes it extremely easy. Everyone where's all their jewels on the outside clothes." 

            Sesshoumaru didn't even twitch. "One would suggest that you should be careful about what you steal." He said. 

            "Never been careful before." Morgan shrugged, bringing up his cutlass and inspecting it carefully. "Don't see why I should start now." 

            "Because this is my city." Sesshoumaru said simply. "And I would not like you stealing in it."      

            Morgan pursed his lips, and poked his finger at the tip of the cutlass, drawing a ruby pinprick of blood. "And you are..." He left it hanging. 

            "You may call me Sesshoumaru-Sama." 

            Morgan nodded. "Okay, and I don't suppose your just going to let me go, are you?" 

            Sesshoumaru regarded him coolly. "For stealing, I probably would. However, for hitting me, I doubt it." 

            Aaron blinked. "But I thought you wanted this." He said, holding up the last piece of gold. 

            Morgan turned from Sesshoumaru to Aaron. "Am I correct in assuming that fighting with this Sesshoumaru fellow would probably get me killed?"

            Aaron nodded happily. "But it would be fun to watch." He said. 

            Morgan blinked at him, making a mental note to stay away from the man when he was bored. "Yes, well, life is better than gold." Morgan reasoned. "Unless it's a whole lot of gold, and a really crappy life. But I digress." He said, and suddenly turned around, and tore down the street at high speed. Discretion was the finer part of valor. Morgan didn't have any valor, so he just settled for caution, with a bit of tactical cowardice. 

*****

            This was a _much _better way to travel. Miroku decided that within the first few moments. Wind flew through his ragged hair as Kirara flew between the trees. He had one hand wrapped around Shippo's tail. 

            Slowly, his thought traced back to his dream, and he began analyzing. 

1. Someone knew about them. A lot about them. 

2. That person was extremely powerful.

3. That person was a potential friend. 

4. That person was a potential enemy.

5. That person knew Kirara, obviously well enough to trust her. 

6. They were now going to see that person. 

            It was either this, or very extreme coincidence. And Miroku didn't believe very much in coincidence this extreme anymore. Briefly he wondered what was going on… The logical conclusion would be that it was a dragon. 

            Miroku briefly filed though the list of dragons that he knew. There was Atma, obviously, however Miroku doubted it. That wasn't Atma's style. It was much too subtle. 

            There was that girl Tiamet. The voice matched. A childlike mentality and voice to a childlike person… however, Miroku doubted that, too. In the short time he had seen her, he had seen that she was even blunter than Atma was. 

            Then there was that big white dragon, Gelledius. He hadn't spoken much when the dragons had met together, but what he had was carefully planned, and very refined and noble. The voice in the dream was anything but that. 

            Khellendros was dead, so that counted him out, as well as Morkleb. 

            And the only other dragon he knew of was… 

            His eyes narrowed. 

            Vadise. 

            Did Vadise know about them, Miroku mused. If so, how? Maybe InuYasha and Kagome had reached her, and told her about them. Well, of coarse InuYasha and Kagome had reached her. The alternative was unthinkable. But if it was her, then what did she care about them for? Or if it wasn't her, then who or what was it? Were there other dragons out there, or was it something else entirely? 

            His eyes widened suddenly as the terrain changed suddenly. The tree's suddenly burst open to scalded, dry ground. A wall of heat suddenly hit him, and she pulled himself closer to Kirara's fur, trying to avoid it. He looked down, and his eyes widened as he saw that the ground was littered with pools of molten rock. He swallowed and clung even tighter, wishing that this was all over. 

*****

            The chase was on again. And so far, Sesshoumaru was winning. Many leaders ignore most of the darkest allies in their dominions. Sesshoumaru knew every one, and took advantage of them all. 

            Morgan dashed down a marble street, trying to find his way down to the harbor. Maybe if he could find Kiriln he would have a chance against the lord of this city. Morgan didn't get genuinely afraid easily. He most certainly wasn't when he had first seen the lord. He had looked well dressed, his hair was long, almost like a girl's, and he had a big fluffy boa. And he only had one arm. He really hadn't looked very threatening. But something about the way he spoke had clued Morgan into the fact that he didn't want to fight him. Nobody who looked so… not feminine deserved to have so threatening and controlled a voice. 

            It was a good thing Morgan had listened to his instincts. It was hard enough just getting away from the bastard. He stopped suddenly as Sesshoumaru dashed out from an ally in the side of the street. Morgan let out a heavy oath in English, and turned to go the other way, traveling very fast. 

            As Morgan made his way through the winding streets, Sesshoumaru cutting through every ally in the city to cut him off, two figures leapt from building to building, tracing Sesshoumaru. 

            "I don't think we can rely on the humans to take him out, Shin." One said. 

            "I suppose not." The second said, slightly annoyed. "Do you think we can take him? He looks strong." 

            "Don't be an idiot!" The first figure hissed. "If he fights anything like he did when he was young, then he will be no problem." 

            "But it does not look like he fights like he did when he was young. He seems to be much more precise than he was then." 

            "Just shut up, and let's go." 

            Like eagles, the two figures dropped off the roofs, and fell gracefully to the floor below, landing firmly on the stone street between Morgan and Sesshoumaru. Morgan stopped suddenly, and blinked. Women didn't normally drop out of nowhere in front of him. Not that he was complaining, mind. But still, these ones seemed a little two feisty. They were Chinese, he could tell. The blue haired one had a spear, and the one with purple hair had two swords in her hands. They were both facing Sesshoumaru. 

            The lord youkai regarded them coolly. "You are Oni and Shin." He said simply. 

            They nodded. "And we want your fang." The purple haired one replied. 

            Sesshoumaru glanced down to the sword at his side, then back up. "Very well." He said simply, and held out his hand. The fingers started glowing slightly. 

            Morgan swallowed, and back up nervously. This would be where he ran. 

*****

            The weather was certainly interesting in dragon country, Miroku reflected. They had gone from a sweltering lava-filled plain to a glacial cliff in an hour. And now this. They stood at the top of the cliff, and looked down at what would best be described as a crater. Not a burnt, steaming crater. It was filled with life. A jungle, so thick and dense that Miroku could hardly believe it. He had never seen such life before. 

            Kirara cast them a meaningful glance, and it seemed that she almost smiled. Then she dashed down into the thick forest. Where she dashed a flock of bright crimson birds flew out of the trees, looking like sudden gout of flame. 

            Miroku sighed, and began walking. Shippo and Sango followed timidly after him. 

*****

            Okay, after about five weeks of successfully only updating once per week, let's just say that you can expect updates every week, Sunday or Saturday. 

            And now we finally get to the action. Things should start to pick up after this chapter, so be happy and keep reading! 


	15. Through the Night

            Miroku's sighed heavily, and heaved himself over the titanic tree root in front of them. The trees here were so very thick and intertwining! He wasn't claustrophobic by any means, but even he was feeling tense. The leaves were so thick that almost no sunlight got through them. It had rained recently here, too. Steam rose from every surface, creating an almost steam-room effect. 

            Miroku sighed, and tightened his grip on Sango, helping her forward even more through the trees. The path taken by Kirara was fairly obvious: it was the only one there. 

            Slowly, they labored their way through the forest, scaling roots taller than they were, hacking away at thick, heavy vines that blocked their paths, and trying to avoid any potentially dangerous things. It must have been more than an hour, a hot, sweaty, trying hour, before they reached any change in the forest at all. 

            Finally, they came to a small spring. More of a pool of water lying in the grassy ground. It was shallow, and clear. Miroku motioned for Shippo to followed them, and they group sat down near the side of the pond. "We'll stop here for a while." He said. "It will give us a chance to catch out breath, and prepare for the next stretch." 

            Shippo hopped up on Sango's head, and looked at the monk plaintively. "But, Miroku, where do we go next?" He asked. 

            Miroku blinked and looked around. There was only the way they had come in, and that was obviously not the way to go. He sighed, but then again, stranger things had happened these last few days. He looked down again, inspecting the water in the spring. It _looked_ clean. 

            He leaned gently down, and scooped some water to his lips. It was cool, sweet, and clean. He looked back up, and sighed. "The water is good." He proclaimed, turning to Sango to help her get some. He stopped. Sango wasn't there. 

            His eyes widened, and slowly traced round the clearing. Shippo was gone as well. As was the exit. Sudden panic struck him, and only pure self control kept him from jumping up and tearing off in a random direction, looking for them. 

A light breeze blew through the clearing. Miroku's eyes narrowed, and he stood up. He was surrounded by trees on all sides. There should be a breeze. His brain swiftly kicked into overdrive mode. Concern for Sango and Shippo (mostly Sango, actually) was quickly locked away in the back of his mind, and the foreground took over. Practicality was what had to rule. 

            He looked around carefully, wary of the constant, slight breeze. Nothing he could see, anyway. Was it something to do with the water? He slowly looked down. He could see to the bottom, but it was obscured by his reflection, staring back at him. He looked back up, and mused a bit, then stared back down, and dipped his hand in the water. His hand got wet, but nothing else. He shook his hand off, and stared back down, unconsciously lifting his crippled right hand to his chin, musing. 

            His hand froze, and his eyes fixated on his reflection. The right hand of the reflection wasn't shattered. His eyes widened, and he drew back slightly. The reflection's eyes narrowed, and it leaned closer. Its lips widened in a smooth smile, as slowly it lifted its right hand, unwrapped the beads around it, and slammed its open palm onto the surface of the water. The light breeze in the clearing suddenly became a gale. 

*****

            "Houshi-Sama?" Sango called out softly, her voice cracking from lack of use. "Shippo?" She looked towards the pond that Miroku had been sitting at fearfully. 

            He had fallen in! How had he fallen in? He had barely even touched the water, and the next minute he was gone with a splash. Then Shippo had panicked, and gone in after him, and they were still not up. 

            Slowly, she crawled over to the water, looked down in it. It was all cloudy and dirty, almost black. She couldn't see to the bottom. Her breath started coming faster, and her eyes widened in panic. Were they okay? 

            She stumbled back from the pond, looking wildly back and forth. She swallowed thickly, and tried to curl up into a ball. This was wrong! All wrong! Nothing had gone right since that night. She had jumped into Miroku's wind tunnel, and smashed his hand with the Hiraikotsu, but after that it was all blank. 

            And when she awoke, she was tired. So, very tired. If it hadn't been for Miroku pushing her on these past days, she could have just sat down and fallen asleep. It would have been so easy. 

            She looked up, again, frantically looking around. Tears were brimming in her eyes, and she sat up. Where was Miroku? There was the Monk? Her breath was coming in little gasps now. 

            _Sleep…_

            It came whispering into her mind, the same as it had been for so long. 

            _Sleep… Lie down… Close your eyes… _

Where was the Monk? Where was he? She stumbled frantically over to the water, and looked down in it again. It was completely black now. She looked around frantically, the shadows growing longer. All around the clearing, the already dim light grew dimmer, and shadows crept down the trees, pushing along the ground. 

            Sango stumbled back, her feet diving into the black stuff that was once the pond. She screamed a hoarse, grating scream as something grabbed her leg, holding on fiercely. She looked down, and jerked back onto dry land, kicking her leg frantically. Something black fell back into the water. Tears now littered her cheeks, and her lips curled in fear. The shadows at the base of the trees were pitch black now, and spreading out towards her. The trees themselves were growing darker, becoming hard to see. She whirled around and stared in horror at the pond. Pitch, black shadows were oozing from the water, and over the ground, only darkness remaining where they were. She dashed back to the safety of the yet untainted grass, tears now streaming down her face. 

            "Houshi!" She cried out in agony, willing the monk to appear and save her. Her eyes jerked up as the now black trees started to writhe and wriggle, screeching at her. She shook her head in horror and disbelief, and fell to the last resort of frightened children: She ducked down, curled, and covered her head. "Houshi-Sama!" She cried out, not looking up. "Houshi…" She whimpered, curling into an even tighter ball, shoving her face into her knees, and wrapping her arms round her head, willing it to all go away. 

            The voices were growing louder now. 

            _Sleep! Close your eyes! _

_            Don't fight! _

_            Rest! _

_\           die…_

"Miroku…" She whimpered as the darkness overtook her. 

            _DIE_

Something snapped. Sango flew herself out of her fetal position, her face contorted with rage. She rolled back onto her shoulders, and snapped up to her feet, now enveloped in complete and utter darkness. 

            It was just like her dreams. Exactly like her dreams. Miroku would come and find her, or she would find him. She could feel the darkness pulling at her, trying to take her.  If this darkness wanted her so bad then it could have her, but she _would _find Miroku! She tightened her fists into taunt balls, and dashed forward through the screaming night, all thoughts of sleep forgotten. 

*****

            Miroku dashed away, scrambling madly away from the swirling vortex that led into the pool. He grabbed onto a root, and winced in pain as he felt his blood being sucked to his feet. Is this what it felt like to be attacked by a wind tunnel? He hasped in relief as the sucking suddenly stopped, and quickly got to his feet. 

            He whirled around to face the pool, eyes narrow and at the ready. The water in the pool slowly flowed upwards, filling in space, until it resembled Miroku himself perfectly. Miroku stumbled backwards as the thing reached into the pool again, and pulled out a staff, perfectly resembling Miroku's staff, and stepped out onto the land. Miroku backed up a few steps, then turned and dashed into the thick trees, leaping onto a long, sloping trunk, and beginning to run up it. 

            There was a thump, and a laugh, and Miroku looked back to see the thing staring up at him from the bottom of the trunk. It had now taken on his colors too, only it looked like he once had, complete with his outer, purple robe, pony tail, and un-shattered hand. The thing, lifted its right hand, and cracked its knuckles smugly. 

            "What's wrong, Miroku?" The thing asked. Miroku stopped in shock, and turned around again. The thing was even using his voice! He gritted his teeth, and continued dashing up the gradual incline. Quickly, he turned, and jumped, landing on another trunk almost as thick as a hoarse. He quickly began dashing down that again, hitting thick, heavy leaves and branches out of his way as he did so. 

            The constant, light tapping of sandals told him that the thing was already behind him, and dashing after him. He quickly grabbed an overhead branch with his left head, and jumped to the left, using the branch to break his fall onto yet another path-like branch. He instantly began dashing up again, continually getting higher and higher. HE couldn't even see the ground now. 

            There was a snapping of branches from above him, and he stopped in horror just as his doppelganger dropped in front of him, a sinister grin on its face. It quickly swung the staff furiously, aiming at Miroku's neck. Miroku stumbled back slightly, tripping out of the path of the staff. He gasped as he fell of the branch, and quickly wrapped his hand around a vine to his right. He gasped in pain as his hand grated across the rough surface of the vine, and he felt sticky blood begin to flow over the back of his hand. How the hell was he supposed to beat himself? 

            He looked up frantically, and his eyes widened as he saw the doppelganger unwrapping the beads on its hand. The monk quickly dropped, and rolled on an odd somersault down the next thick trunk, barely avoiding the cyclone that opened right were he was a moment ago. He winced as he felt something pull in his left shoulder, and he stumbled on down the branch. He turned around, his face clouded with anger as he faced where he had dropped from. He now had no decent arms. How the hell was he supposed to be able to fend this thing off? 

            "Whets the matter, Houshi?" His own voice asked him, and the clone dropped smoothly down to the branch he was on. "Can't you defend yourself?" 

            Miroku back up, holding his crushed hand up carefully. 

            "Why don't you use the wind tunnel, Miroku?" The clone asked, his voice mocking. 

            Miroku's face narrowed in a scowl. No way could he do that. His wind tunnel was way too damaged. He would get sucked in instantly! 

            The clone's face nodded. "You're afraid." It hissed. "You're a stinking coward." It spat on the ground. 

            Miroku took the opportunity, and swung his right arm as hard as he could. His broken fist slammed into the clones head, overbalancing it. 

            The clone stumbled slightly, and fell backwards. Almost as soon as it hit, it was back on its feet. "You are a coward." The clone affirmed to itself. "Well, you'd better get over any fear you have of death." He hissed. "You are going to die, Miroku." The clone said, its voice suddenly dropping down into Miroku's own tone, calm, and reserved. "You can do nothing about it, so you might as well make it on your terms." The clone ripped off the prayer beads from his arm, and opened his hand at Miroku. 

*****

            Sango ran desperately, her eyes wide with fear, and tears streaming down her face. "Houshi!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. "Houshi-Sama." 

            Things were after her, she could feel them, all around her. They were always getting closer. "Houshi-Sama!" She called again, listening desperately for any response. She ran further in whatever direction she was facing. She wasn't even sure what was up anymore. There was no direction here. 

            Her mind was screaming at her, filling her head with Memories she hadn't known she had. She had been in this place before. This complete, total darkness. It had happened that night they had fought Morkleb. 

*****

            _"Houshi-Sama!" Sango screamed, flying towards him. She could barely make out his face through the ravaging winds rushing towards his hand. She tightened her grip on the Hiraikotsu, and her eyes narrowed. She suddenly flung the giant boomerang forward, sending it flying through the wind. Her eyes widened in horror as it snapped in half, like a twig. One half shattered, sending shards flying into her skin. The other half fell halfheartedly, torn at by the winds. Sango was pulled past it, let out a final scream, and suddenly everything went dark. _

*****

            Her footfalls were muffled by the darkness, as were her breaths and all her other motions. She gasped in horror as she felt something wrap around her. With sudden rage, she reached down with her other hand, grabbed it and threw it. Whatever it was let out a scream as it flew deeper into the darkness. 

            She ran harder faster, feeling the things only feet behind her. She sprinted, occasionally switching directions, oblivious to the burning fire that was her lungs. "Houshi-Sama!" Her ragged scream rang out again. 

*****

            _The darkness was thick, like an oozing tide. It washed over her. She was falling through the darkness. It clung to her, dragging her down, clutching at her, clawing it her. She couldn't get out! She couldn't move. Her mouth opened and a scream ripped from her lips, loosing itself in the darkness. There were things all around her. She could hear them, getting closer, and closer. The sickening crunch of the things made her stomach churn and her eyes water. She couldn't see anything! Nothing!! She was blind! Where was everybody? _

_ She let loose another scream, and started running, even while she was falling she ran, stumbling left and right. Her foot seemed to find traction on the air, and then hit something. She gasped, and started falling again, she tried to reach up, but couldn't even find out what up was anymore. She was falling into nothing. _

*****

            She slammed suddenly into something hard, like a wall. Rage and fear and frustration came to the surface all at once, and she screamed at whatever it was. She could feel the things behind her, hissing and writhing. Frantically, she began beating at the thing in front of her, not caring what it was. She scratched, and bit, and kicked, and punched, and attacked. She could feel her too-long fingernails becoming cracked and bloody and bent as she attacked the thing mercilessly, finally managing to climb over whatever it was.

            "Miroku!" She screamed, her throat constricting with sobs, and she started running again. 

*****

            _She screamed over and over again, falling further and further from the light. Something grabbed a hold of her arm, and she struck out frantically at it, wrenching it off, and throwing at away from her as hard as she could. Tears poured down her face, and she continued running, attacking things randomly whenever they grabbed her. _

_            Where was Miroku, and Kohaku, and Shippo, and all the rest? Why weren't they here? Where were they? _

_            There was a sudden burst of light above her, and she saw, just briefly, a woman. Her hair was crimson, and she had black, large, draconic wings. She reached out for Sango, calling her name. Sango reached back, clasping the clawed hand offered to her. Her frantic eyes registered the woman's name finally: Atma. _

_            And suddenly the darkness was gone, replaced by the cool serene landscape of the desert. Sango breathed heavily, gasping for breath, standing in the desert. Atma let go of her hand gently, and smiled at her. "Now, make sure you stay alive." She said her voice soft. And then she was gone. _

_            Sango breathed only a moment more, then slumped down into the cool sands, unconscious. _

*****

            Sango screamed again as a thing wrapped around her leg, causing her to pitch forward. She rolled over, and savagely struck out at the thing at her foot, only to have something grip her arm in a tight, vice like grip. She threw herself forward grappling with the thing, and beating it over and over again with her right hand, fear and hate and anger slamming into the thing with each blow.   
            And suddenly there was light again. She was lying in a clearing. The same clearing the darkness had come to her in. She sat up slowly, and blinked. Across the pond from her was Miroku, sitting up, and rubbing his shattered fist tenderly. 

            "Houshi-Sama." She whispered, her voice still raw. 

            Miroku looked up, and blinked at her, an almost foreign look in his eyes. 

            "Houshi-Sama…" She said again, her voice cracking somewhat. Unsteadily, she got to her feet, and waded strait through the pond to him. The cool water only came up to her waist, and she emerged from the other side only half wet. 

            Miroku blinked at her, looking very shaken. "Sango…" He murmured. "Do you know what just…" 

            "Shut up, Miroku." Sango whispered, and collapsed into him, wrapping her arms around him. Slowly, she started to cry. 

*****

            Whoohee! Man, I'm proud of that chapter. It's not half bad if I do say so myself. 

            And If your wondering about Shippo, Don't worry, I didn't forget him. He's still there, just not at the end of this one. 

            And for those of you hoping for Sesshoumaru, sorry. I got a bit to caught up in this chapter. Anywho, please R&R. Toodles!


	16. Encounter with the Odd

Woah! Sorry this took so long folks! My schedule's been really busy lately. I've got pre-calc tests, physics, and the drama this year. (I'm Hortensio, from Taming of the Shrew! I get to make sex jokes on stage! Three cheers for shakespear!) 

However, I now have another sweet week of spring break left, and can WRITE! Bwahaha. And play videogames. I just beat Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicals last night with a friend. It was fun… even though I didn't really beat the rest of the game. He just needed help on the final boss. Whom I beat the crap out of. BWAHAHA!

Ahem. Well, I seem to be losing readers fast. (This is half the size of my last fic with a little more than 1/20th the reviews) But I got some new ones! I'm happy! To all those of you out there who are now reading, welcome! Feel free to point, laugh, stare, and ask questions. Anywho, on with the fic! This is a big, seven page chapter, so you better enjoy it!

*****

"What was it you saw?"  
    "I couldn't see anything." Sango hiccupped, trying desperately to ignore the fact that she was wrapped in Miroku's arms. Not that she really minded, but if he did even one perverted thing... Oh! She would beat him so hard that he wouldn't have to worry about being able to use his hands to do anything ever again! "I saw you and Shippo fall into the pond over there, and when I went to look for you the pond went black." She shuddered. "And then the darkness spread all around, and soon I couldn't see a thing."  
    "And what happened?" Miroku asked, stroking her hair softly.  
    "There was this voice." She said. "It's been with me since that night we fought Morkleb. It was telling me to just lie down, and give up. It wanted me to go to sleep. At first I wanted to do what it told me to. I was so tired." She closed her eyes and pressed her face into the strong chest she was leaning against. "But then I thought about all the things that I was leaving behind. I thought about Kohaku, and Shippo, and Kagome, and everyone else." She smiled just slightly. "I thought about you. And I decided that I wouldn't go to sleep quite yet."  
    Miroku started, and blushed slightly. "You... really thought about me?" He asked.  
    Sango stared at him just a few moments. "Houshi-sama, are you really that dense?" She punched him lightly in the chest.  
    Miroku grinned. "So, we're back to Houshi-sama, now are we? I thought we were past that phase."  
    Sango glared at him, and slapped him lightly on the cheek. "As long as you're a pervert monk, you're Houshi-sama."  
    Miroku looked offended. "I am a member of a holy order." He said primly.  
    "Then act like it." Sango said, dangerously.  
    Miroku grinned sheepishly. "Well, you don't' have your hiraikotsu with you right now..."  
    SMACK!  
    Miroku blinked, and touched the red hand mark on his face. "Ow." He said.  
    Sango waved her stinging palm in the air. "What about you?" She asked finally. "Did you see anything? Did you have a vision?"   
    Miroku shrugged. "I saw myself."  
    Sango blinked, and cocked her head in incomprehension.  
"I was looking into the water, when suddenly my reflection burst through and attacked me." Miroku explained. "Only he was me at my peak. His hand was fine, and he could move much better than I could. I ran from him a while, all the while he called me a coward, and taunted me to use my Kazanna."  
    Sango gave a brief glance to his right fist. "But you can't, can you?"  
    Miroku shrugged. "I doubt it. And even if I could, it's probably so damaged that it would suck me in anyway." He scowled slightly. "My reflection said that that shouldn't matter to me. He said that I was going to die anyway, so it might as well be on my own terms." He shrugged. "And then he opened his own Kazanna at me."  
    Sango's eyes widened. "What happened?"  
    "I don't know?" I could feel myself being sucked in, and the next thing I knew I was here, sitting near the pond. You were across from me, sleeping."  
    Sango sighed. "What do you think this place is?"  
     Miroku shrugged. "Last night, the night before we found Kirara, I had a dream. The voice in the dream said that we should come to her, and that an old friend would guide us." He shrugged. "The voice told me to walk, and the next day I could move again. So, I surmised that Kirara would guide us to where the voice was."  
    Sango blinked. "Why didn't you tell the rest of us?" She asked.  
    Miroku gave her a skeptical look. "Because Shippo would have probably panicked, and run off, and you weren't in much of a condition to do much of anything. You haven't been exactly normal these last few days."  
    Sango nodded. "I was just so tired." She said. "I couldn't speak, or even think. I was just trying to not sleep."  
    Miroku smiled at her. "Are you tired now?" he asked.  
    Sango wiggled slightly, leaning harder against him. "Not really." She said. "And the voice is gone too."  
    Miroku smiled. "So, you think your back to normal?" He asked. Very slyly, his hand on her head rubbed down the back of her neck, then steadily, slowly down her back.  
    Sango nodded. "I hope so." She said. "I really-" Suddenly her eyes jerked open, and a blush spread over her face. "Houshi-Sama!" She yelled, rage filling her voice.  
    Miroku grinned sheepishly, and removed his hand, but too late. He wasn't quite sure how it happened, but somehow he ended up in the pond, and his stomach hurt... A lot.  
    He emerged from the water with a heavy grimace on his face. "Well, it seems things are back to normal." He remarked, coughing out some water.  
    Sango scowled, and crossed her arms. "Still just a hentai." She remarked, and shook her head.  
    "And not likely to change anytime soon." A small, light childlike voice rang out.  
    Sango and Miroku turned suddenly, on guard.  
    Where the little path through the trees had been stood a girl. She was slender, almost lanky, but still slightly short. Her hair was white, with a slight tinge of sky blue at the tips, and looked ragged and messy. Her eyes were a cool calm, emerald green, and one her face was a wide, fanged grin.  
    Regally, Miroku rose to his feet, and shook the water out of the sleeves of his robe. He turned to face her, and raised an eyebrow. "Vadise?" He asked confidently.  
    The girl smiled and crossed her arms, not surprised in the least. "Well, it looks like you're as smart as I gave you credit for, monk." She said. "It took the hanyou at least half an hour to figure that one out."  
    Miroku took two steps back, bringing himself out of the pond and level with Sango. "So you are the fabled dragon."  
    Vadise seemed to think about this just a moment. "Well, 'fabled'... I dunno." She scratched the back of her head, and starred up towards the canopy. "Fabled means, essentially, 'of ages long past' so... would I be fabled." She nodded. "Yeah, I suppose so." She stared back down at the group. "Yes, yes indeed. I am fabled."  
    Miroku blinked. So much for all his regal expectations. "I don't suppose you'd mind telling me what just happened?" He asked.  
    Vadise blinked at him, then looked to Sango, then looked back to him. "I tested you." She said simply.  
    Miroku's face slowly faded to a scowl. "You looked into our minds, took our fears, and then pitted them against us?" He asked, his voice dangerously low. "Who gave you that right?"  
    Vadise smiled. "Who dealt out the right to give rights?" She asked. "If you start thinking in terms of 'rights' then you won't last long in the world. You should know that monk. I had the power to do so, and I had the desire to do so. So I did."  
    Miroku's eyes narrowed angrily. A man's mind was sacred, and so were his fears. This dragon had no right to look into them. "How dare you?"  
    Suddenly Vadise was right in front of him, grinning into his face. "How dare you?" She demanded. "I have powers you cannot possibly begin to comprehend. You are hardely even worth my time!" She appeared again behind him, speaking right into his ear. "Think you that I give ear to anyone who comes into my vale?" She hissed. "I think not. Why should I give my time to those who are not willing to endure trial for it? Anyone who whished to see me must be willing to work for it."  
     Miroku didn't turn to face her, though Sango's eyes followed her every move. "So, did we pass these trials?" Miroku asked.  
    Vadise chuckled softly. "Does that really matter?" She asked. "The important thing was that you got through them."  
    Miroku clenched his good fist. "Then what was the point?"  
    Vadise appeared again, infront of him. "What is the point of any test?" She asked. "To help you learn." She cocked her head. "Did you learn anything?"  
    Miroku scowled, but did not answer.  
    "Then perhaps you failed." The odd cat-like girl said, rubbing the stripes on the side of her face with the back of her hand. "But Sango, I see has passed."  
    "What do you mean by that?" Sango asked, speaking for the first time. She slowly got to her feet.  
    "Look at her eyes, monk." Vadise said with a purr, sitting down on the thick grass. "Tell me she has not changed."  
    Miroku's eyes narrowed, and he glanced at Sango's eyes. They were indeed different. They were still darker than normal, but no longer dead; they shone. The monk looked back away from Sango, and back to Vadise.  
     "Houshi-Sama." Sango said, getting to her feet. "What's going on?"  
    Vadise smiled, and turned around. "Maybe I can answer that." She said. "If your still bitter, you can simply leave." She gave a knowing look to Miroku over her shoulder. "But it could be that thirst of knowledge leads you deeper into the web." With that, she turned again, and walked down the trail she had come from.  
    Sango edged over to Miroku and blinked at him. "Should we follow her?" She asked timidly.  
    Miroku thought for a moment, then nodded. Slowly, they made their way forward.  
*****  
    "So, you are truly Vadise?" Miroku asked, sitting on a log. The little group sat in the middle a grove of trees.  
    The little, white haired girl sat on the grass in front of them, happily storking her own tail. "That's right." She said simply, not looking up.  
    "Have you met with InuYasha and Kagome?" He asked.  
    "Yes indeed." She said, picking a twig out of the fur. "They got lucky. They almost didn't make it."  
    "Did you heal them?"  
    Vadise looked up at him slyly. "You cut strait to the chase, don't you." She shrugged, and fell back, stretching out on the ground. "Well, all right then." She continued. "They got here almost a day later than the two weeks they had." Miroku's and Sango's eyes widened. "Kagome had been subconsciously using her powers to keep her body together, but she was starting to fail. I tested them, and I'm fairly sure they both learned their lessons."  
    Miroku blinked. "What did you make them see?" He asked.  
    Vadise didn't even bother to answer. "Once they got out of the tests." She proceeded on, "We had a nice little conversation in which a trade was involved."  
    Miroku nodded. "You wanted the Shikon Jewel." He said simply.  
    Vadise clapped softly, sitting up. "Very good Monk. Did you find that out yourself, or did Atma tell you?"  
    Miroku didn't respond.  
            Vadise nodded to the Miroku. "Yes." She said simply. "I asked for the Shikon jewel." She grinned. "InuYasha naturally agreed. They're back at Kaede's village by now." 

Miroku nodded. "So, we are here on our own." He mused. "Then why did you test us?" 

"To help you learn?" 

"Then did we pass?" The monk countered. 

"Are you alive?" Vadise grinned. 

Miroku turned to Sango, then back to Vadise. "Then, the test has healed Sango?" HE asked. 

Sango blinked, and stepped forward. "What are you all talking about?" She asked, confused. "What has happened these last few days?" 

Vadise smiled at her, and spread her arms. "And now, you see, we get to the pertinent questions." She grinned at Sango. "For me to answer that, you must follow me." 

Sango looked to Miroku and nodded. The monk nodded back. 

Vadise stood, and began to walk slowly through the thick trees. Vadise had an odd walk. It was smooth and confident, yet oddly gangly, almost as if she wanted to move her limbs longer than they could go. She would stretch her foot out too far, but when she didn't touch the ground she simply fell forward until it did. It was chaotic, yet, oddly graceful. 

"You see, Sango, there are a great many 'worlds' out there." Vadise said as she walked.  "A great many realities if you will. And each one is different. Each has it's own set of rules." She smiled. For instance, in our world, when things are in midair, they fall unless something keeps them up."

She suddenly made a sharp turn, and brought them to a wide, grassy clearing with clear, blue skies above. In the middle of the clearing was a great, giant, titanic willow. Its heavy boughs bent over one another, cascading in a thick, green canopy to make a shroud all around the trunk. 

Sango's eyes widened. "Wow…" She whispered. 

Vadise nodded. "However, in another world, the rules might say that the thing would fall up." She smiled, and fell forward into a quick somersault. She came up again with a small stone. "You see, in this world, it is magic that makes the rules." She dropped the stone, and it fell to the ground. "However, us dragons are essentially pure magical force tied to a soul. Therefore with a little effort, we can sometimes change the roles. She rolled again, and grabbed another rock. She let go, and it very suddenly went soaring into the sky. "However in another reality, there is something else making the rules. In fact, the probability that there is a world out there that even has rules like 'up' and 'down' is very unlikely." She shrugged, and continued towards the great tree. "You see, you really can't even begin to comprehend things in the way that they actually might be in another world, because you are to limited by the rules of this one." 

Miroku was deep in thought. "So, for instance, would what we call 'hell' be simply another world?" He asked finally.

Vadise thought about this for a moment. "Well, I suppose that it is." She admitted. "However we think that there is something different about it than with most worlds." She shrugged. "It seems to have been made for the purpose of the dead." 

The monk thought about this only a moment. "Who created it?" He asked. 

Vadise turned to him and smiled. "I don't' even know the answer to that one." She said. "There are more theories out there than you could possibly count." The white haired girl shrugged. "I have my own thoughts, but I'm not sure. Maybe we could have a discussion on religion later, but now we are speaking of something else." She turned again, and looked up at the titanic tree that loomed before them. "However, occasionally things happen to make little doors open up from world to world." She said. "Normally it happens when a person's soul comes to a certain condition. However, in some cases, it can some in a form much more subtle." She gave a meaningful glance at Miroku's right hand. "Even a simple hole in the flesh can be a portal." 

Miroku looked down at his hand, then back up at the dragon. "Are you saying that my wind tunnel is a portal to one such world?" He asked. 

Vadise grinned and nodded. "Yes, yes indeed." She cocked her head. "One we call the dark." There was a slight chuckle. "Atma named it that when she was still in her younger years. She's the one who first fell into it and lived. Now the Dark has no atmosphere, as it were, which is why when you unseal it, it sucks things into it." 

The monk looked down at his right hand and nodded, running this over in his mind. 

"However, the rules of pressure are different in the dark, and so are the roles of how things live, therefore living things from this world can in fact live in the dark." 

"You mean.." Miroku started. "That all the beasts I've absorbed are sitting in a dark pit somewhere?" He asked. 

Vadise shrugged. "I don't think so." She said. "Atma says that the current residents are pretty good about cleaning up whatever happened to come in." She smiled grimly. "I hear that they are very… thorough." He gaze drifted back to Sango. "On that night when you killed Morkleb…" She began. "You jumped into Miroku's wind tunnel to save his life. While you did in fact crush his wind tunnel before it could absorb him, you in the process were sucked in." The demon slayer paled. "However, for whatever reason, the beasts there left you alone." 

Sango swallowed nervously. "So, then Atma rescued me, right?" She asked. 

"Yes, she did." The dragon girl responded. "However, not before you had spent a large amount of time there." 

Sango blinked. "I didn't spend to much time there, did I?" She asked, and trembled slightly at the memory of the darkness all around her. It had seemed like a long time, but she knew that time seemed to slow down in situations of fear. 

Vadise chuckled. "Different rules, Sango, different rules. Time flows differently in the dark." And popped he knuckles. "And those different rules also had some sort of effect on your soul." She continued. "I'm personally not quite sure what, though Atma could probably tell you. However, for a short time, your soul was fighting desperately against these changes, and losing might we add. The struggle was tearing it apart." She smiled at her. "But somewhere in the test that was given to you, there was a change. Your soul stopped fighting, and the change happened." She grinned. "Congratulations. You win the right to live." 

Sango blinked. "So, if we had not come here, then I would have died?" 

The dragon nodded. "Yes." She said. "And as a result, not having any defense, so would have Miroku and Shippo." 

Sango nodded. Suddenly her eyes widened. "Where is Shippo?" She asked, slightly aghast. 

            Vadise shrugged, and gracefully lifted aside the curtain of willow boughs. "I don't' test children like Shippo." She said. "They are innocent enough already. They'll learn how hard the world is eventually. He sleeps inside." With that, she disappeared into the darkness beyond the boughs. 

            Miroku turned to Sango, and they nodded in unison. Sango spread the branches wide, and strode in, followed by Miroku. 

            Inside, the cavern-like chamber was lit by a soft, bluish white glow that came from nowhere in particular. The trunk of the tree was surrounded by a pure, clear ring-shaped pool. Vadise was standing off two one side, smiling a happy-go-lucky smile, and sitting on the outside of the ring of water was a small, red haired kitsune. 

            Sango breathed a sigh of relief and slowly let her eyes wander to the base of the willow. Her eyes widened, and her mouth parted. 

            Leaning against the trunk of the tree was a young boy. He wore a short, tan-brown kimono, and his black hair was tied in a poofy, ragged puff at the back. He was relatively small, and his eyes were warm and brown. Sitting in his lap was a small, black and white fire-cat. 

            "Kohaku…" Sango whispered, blinking. She took a step forward, and he looked up at her. He smiled and waved a hand at her. 

            In a flash, Sango was running. Her long strides carried her over the thick grass and towards the pond. Her foot collided with the surface of the pond, but didn't sink. (Vadise tried very, very hard to look innocent). Sango dived, and crashed in front of him, on her knees. "Kohaku, your alright!" She cried, tears forming in her dark eyes. She threw her arms around him (eliciting a displeased yowl from the disturbed Kirara). 

            He beamed at her and chuckled. "You don't seem all that bad yourself." He remarked. "You look good as new." His arms wrapped around her form as well. 

            Sango squeezed tighter. "What happened?" She demanded.   
            "After the fight." The young man began, "Atma took me. Apparently Morkleb hit me with some sort of mental blast that was supposed to jar my long term memory." 

            Sango blinked, and released him, cocking her head. "I thought you didn't have that much long term memory." She said. 

            Kohaku grinned at her. "I didn't." He remarked. "I did get a headache though." He chuckled. "Atma laughed for about an hour after she found out what he tried to do." 

            Sango broke a smile at the thought of the brooding she-dragon laughing out of humor. "Well, I'm glad you're alright." She said. "I wasn't sure what had happened to you." 

            There was a chuckled from behind them both, and they whipped around to find Vadise standing right beside them. "I borrowed him from Atma, in case I needed some extra help in bringing you back." Vadise explained. "But I don't think she'd mind him going with you when you leave." She looked over at Kohaku, and smiled. "You'd like that, right?" She asked. 

            Kohaku nodded vigorously. 

            There was the sound of a drop of water dropping, and ripples spread out over the pond. 

            Vadise grinned ever wider, and stood up. "Very well." She said, her voice suddenly deep, rich, and regal. "I have helped you, and so you must help me." She said. 

            Sango and Miroku looked up, and blinked. "What?" 

            Vadise smiled. "I exacted a price for my services to InuYasha and Kagome." She said. "I will have a price from you." 

            Miroku crossed his arms. "I am not sure if we are going to agree." He stated. 

            The dragon grinned. "Y'know, InuYasha said the same thing." She said. "Your going to do it anyway, so why not agree the good way?" 

            "I wasn't saying we weren't going to agree." The monk said, holding up his hands. "I merely wanted to hear the proposition before saying yes." 

            The dragon's mouth split open in a grin. "Well, then monk." She said. "I suppose you are very, very wise. Very well. I need you to go to Shinjuku, the youkai city. Kirara can show you the way." She shrugged. "There you will find a pirate. His name is Morgan, and he will be traveling with a dragon. Tell the dragon that if she stays, she will not be harmed by us." 

            Miroku blinked. "What would that mean?" He asked casually. 

            "The dragon will understand. You will find both the pirate and the dragon near water. After you give them that message, have the pirate take you to the mainland. From there, you can get back to your home." 

            Miroku thought about this a moment. "It does provide us with transportation to mainland Japan…" He mused slowly. "Very well…" He said. "We shall do it." 

            Vadise clicked her claws together, and cast her gaze to the pool. "Wonderful." She said, her voice back to its normal girlishness. "Waves are beginning to form." 


	17. Conflict

            Woot! Sorry I'm so late with this one too! My schedule's been really screwy lately.       I've got choir tour coming up, as well as a concert for mens choir. The local collage is coming out of session soon, so any college classes I have are becoming more and more frenzied. Not to mention our sr. high drama, Taming of the Shrew, is going down in about two weeks. Sigh! I'm so busy. But after that, I have almost no after school responsibilities, so slow updates shouldn't last too much longer. Anywho, on with the fic!

*****

"So, what have you been up to these past few years?" 

            "Oh, not much." 

            "Really? That pirate guy seems kinda cool. You got anything doin' with him?" 

            "Not yet. He's looking for some quick cash, and I needed a way to get to Japan without getting noticed. Any sea youkai would have reported something like me swimming alone strait away to Atma, and I would have been busted. But a sea serpent pulling a ship. That's _obviously _just some stupid beast of burden." 

            Tiamet and Kiriln sat conversing by the harbor. Tiamet on the edge of the great, marble pier that started Shinjuku. Her wings were unfolded, and she was enjoying the hot sun beating down on her skin. It was too bad that skin didn't retain as much heat as scales did. Tiamet in general enjoyed her reptilian form, but this one did have fun uses as well. She glanced over at her old friend.   
            Kiriln's head was rising out of the water, and rested next to Tiamet's comparatively small frame. The rest of her long, sinuous body was coiled around in the water near the pier, enjoying her heat of the water near the surface. 

            "So, why did you leave, anyway?" Tiamet asked. 

            Kiriln smiled a big toothy grin. "It was time." She said. 

            Tiamet blinked at her. "Oh, jeez, like _that's _a decent answer." She said. "C'mon, I'm not Atma, y'know. You can tell me." 

            Kiriln rolled a, yellow, slitted eye towards her. "Tell me…" She began. "Why do you follow Atma as your leader?" 

            Tiamet blinked. "Because she _is _our leader." She stated simply. "You know how it works. It's the instinct." 

            Kiriln's jaws closed again in a strait line. "Yes, of course. All we dragons have it." 

            All dragons _did _have it. They simply couldn't find the words to explain it. It was a feeling of how things were supposed to work. They had always followed it. An instinct told them who was to lead. If instinct said it was Atma, then Atma would lead. If instinct said a half eaten piece of steak would lead, then by golly, the dragons would follow it. Except for maybe Tiamet, who would eat it. Then they would follow something else. 

            "So, what about it?" Tiamet sighed. 

            "Why do you follow it?" 

            "What?" 

            "Why do you follow the instinct?" Kiriln persisted. 

            The red dragon thought for just a moment. "Because, that's what we're supposed to do. It feels wrong not to." 

            "Do you remember when me and Ryuukotsutsei left?" Kiriln asked. 

            Tiamet nodded. "It was just a little while after Morkleb rebelled." 

            "The night before we both left, Ryuukotsutsei came to me." Kiriln whispered. "I had never really liked him. He had the same feel that Morkleb had. But he came to me, and spoke to me that night." She chuckled sarcastically. "I thought he was crazy. He said that his instinct was telling him that he was our leader. He said that his _instinct _was telling him that he should destroy Atma and the rest. He said that he was leaving." She snorted, sending steam out to sea in the process. "You can see why I thought he was so crazy." 

            Tiamet nodded. "That day we fought with him, alongside Taisho. He was spouting something about that." 

            Kiriln chuckled. "Yes, but he was doing the average thing. He was spouting about how he would leave, and raise an army, and come back. He would conquer you all, and he would be triumphant. Blah, blah, blah. It was like right out of some cheesy legend." She snorted again. "And get this, he wanted me to come with him. Be his queen." 

            This time it was Tiamet who laughed. "Are you serious?" She asked. "That's great." 

            Kiriln laughed. "Yes, well. Naturally, I told him to get lost. But one thing he said bothered me. It was about the instinct." Kiriln took a breath. "Mine was telling me weird things too." She grinned at Tiamet. "It was telling me to leave." 

            "To leave?" Tiamet blinked. 

            "To leave." Kiriln said firmly. "I thought that something was just wrong with me, but when I heard Ryuu speak, I thought that maybe it was something more. So I left." 

            "You mean that all this time you were following the instinct?" 

            Kiriln shook her head very slightly. "No." She said. "After I left, I didn't know what to do. I wandered for a few years, sank some ships. But my instinct was silent. Completely and utterly silent." She chuckled. "Eventually I decided I'd do something I'd always wanted to do." 

            Tiamet blinked. "Yeah, so?" Tiamet did things that she wanted to do all the time. 

            Kiriln looked at the little red haired dragon girl. "I don't think you understand." She said. "I actually did something I really wanted to do." She smiled. "You see, even you don't do everything you want. You have your instinct as a safe-guard. You won't do anything unless your instinct tells you to go for it." 

            Tiamet narrowed her eyes. Now that it was mentioned, she couldn't remember doing anything that her instinct ever didn't like. 

            "Now you realize it, don't you?" Kiriln asked slyly. "You don't actually notice it until someone points it out to you." 

            Tiamet's eyes narrowed even further. "That's not fair." She hissed, a sudden rush of things she wanted to do but had never done rushed into her head. "That's not fair at all." 

            "You see it." Kiriln stated simply. "I simply… started doing what I wanted to do." 

            Tiamet nodded, her eyes narrowed speculatively. "So, you ignore the instinct?" 

            Kiriln shook her head. "I don't have the instinct, as you know it. I have instincts, but I don't have anything that determines my will." She grinned wolfishly. "It's actually pretty fun." 

            Tiamet smiled. "I might try that sometime." She said wistfully. 

            "You should, Tia." Kiriln chuckled. "This life would suit you." 

            There was a sudden, awkward silence. They both felt it. They both felt _her. _

            "I guess I couldn't hide forever." Kiriln muttered, and snaked her head around. 

            Standing in the middle of the pier, arms crossed, crimson hair blowing in unseen winds, was a very, very angry Atma. One of her eyebrows pricked up, and one side of her mouth picked up in a very, _very _scary grin, one fang poking out of her mouth. Her eyes glowed inhumanely. 

            "Hello, Kiriln." She whispered. 

            Kiriln perked a scaly eyebrow, and smiled a big toothy grin. "Hey, Atma." She smiled. "Long time no see, neh?" 

*****

            There was dead silence in the streets of Shinjuku. Aarons rampage earlier had cleared out most of the streets, and seeing _the _lord Sesshoumaru stalking through the back allies had finished the job. 

            There was only the occasional sound of the pirate captain Morgan taking the occasional step back, trying to make his escape back to the harbor. 

            Sesshoumaru stood in the street, silently regarded the Chinese women before him. 

            Shin reached down to her sides, and drew out her long, curved, Chinese blades. "Sesshoumaru-Sama." She said in clear, sonorous, sensual Japanese. "Would you give me your fang?" 

            Sesshoumaru's eyes made a quick dart down to the hilt of the Tenseiga in his belt, then back up to the woman. "My fang?" 

            Oni cracked her knuckles, and grinned. "Enough talk." She said, speaking fractured Japanese. "We take fang. You not much match for us last time we meet." 

            Sesshoumaru said nothing. His amber eyes regarded them coolly. He recognized them, of course, from all those years ago. They were two of Hyoga's generals. Amazons, most likely. Back then he had picked a fight with them on the battlefield. He had lost, badly. They had left him wounded for the little brat Menomaru to finish off. 

            But he was older now. They were immortal. They hadn't changed at all. 

            Oni grinned, and whipped her spear from behind her back. "Doggie boy dies now." She declared gleefully. 

            Shin shrugged, might as well. She charged, just a second behind her partner. 

            The tai youkai reguarded them coolly, and brought two fingers up in front of his face. They began to glow. 

            Oni was almost upon him when the beam of light slashed out from his fingers and hit her square in the chest, smashing her back into the thick pavement. Shin gasped in the middle of her dash, and hit her foot into the pavement, stopping her short. She leapt into the air, avoiding the whip of light that slashed across the street floor. 

            She grinned savagely as she came down on Sesshoumaru, slashing down with all her might. Except Sesshoumaru wasn't there anymore. She flipped forward, and landed on her feet, turning around. Sesshoumaru's claws connected with the side of her head with stunning force, sending her flying across the street into a marble wall. There was the sickening sound of shattering bone as she hit the unyielding marble, and slumped to the floor. 

            Sesshoumaru stood up, and flexed his fingers. His knuckles cracked menacingly. 

            Slowly Oni got to her feet, one hand on her breast plate. Her fingers and lips were stained red with blood. "You better." She muttered, and spat red on the white street. "You improve?" 

            She held her spear at the ready, more cautious this time. 

            Sesshoumaru betrayed no emotion on his face. He held up his hand again, and inspected in negligently. 

            Oni growled, and took a step forward, probing her spear out cautiously. Sesshoumaru didn't pay any attention. 

            The blue haired Amazon's eyes narrowed. This wasn't right. Sesshoumaru had been an arrogant little punk last time they had fought. But this fighter… he was completely different. How had the insolent little whelp become this man? 

            With a sudden dart, she flashed her spear in, going for his neck. Sesshoumaru didn't even glance up. He simply stepped smoothly to the side, and dashed forward, embedding his claws into the hole already in her armor. 

            Oni's eye widened in pain, and she looked haltingly down at the three claws in her wound. Sesshoumaru didn't even look at her. Her eyes widened in pain as suddenly a sickly greenish liquid bubbled from her wound. 

            Sesshoumaru pulled out his claws again, and shook them off negligently. A slight wisp of acidic green smoke drifted from his fingertips. 

            Oni stumbled back, the spear falling from her fingers. One hand clutched at the breastplate. Around where the wound had been her armor had melted ever so slightly. Her eyes watered tears and blood, and she fell back, gasping in pain. 

            Coldly, Sesshoumaru turned again to regard Shin. She was still on the ground, grasping her ribs. Sesshoumaru briefly considered leaving her there, but decided against it. They were immortal. Best not to let them recover too quickly. 

            He smoothly reached down, and wrapped his hand around her face. She gasped slightly as he lifted her easily off her feet. "How…" She stuttered, on eye poking out from behind his fingers. "You were only a puppy back then." 

            Sesshoumaru didn't respond. His claws clenched around the face, and she screamed as greenish steam began wafting from her claws. The tai-youkai tossed her away again negligently, her face disfigured. They shouldn't be up and active for a while now. He turned around, to go to pursue that pirate again. 

            But Oni was already standing again. Her hand was clutched across her chest, and the spear was clenched back in her fingers. "Silly dog." She sputtered, her eyes looking slightly crazed. "You no match for us." She whirled her spear around, and charged at him. 

            Sesshoumaru easily sidestepped, and lashed out, leaving four bloody marks across the Amazon's face. She hissed, at him, and lashed around with her spear, going for his legs. 

            Sesshoumaru simply leapt over the spear, and jabbed out with his fist, smashing his palm into her face. She winced in pain, and dashed away, breathing hard. 

            Sesshoumaru gave to quarter, dashing after her, his index finger glowing. They chased down the street, Sesshoumaru lashing out with his whip of light. Oni dodged back and forth, screaming in rage every time the glowing whip struck her. 

            The Amazon growled savagely, and charged the tai youkai, leveling her spear at his throat with stunning precision. 

            Sesshoumaru sidestepped once again, and prepared to lash out with his claws. 

            "Bad doggie!" Oni cried out suddenly, and twisted her wrists ever so slightly. 

            Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes, and his eyes went to the spear. Only it wasn't a spear any more. What had once been a wooden haft was now long, scaly and sinuous. Where the blade had been there was a hissing snakes head.   
            Like lightning, the tai-youkai brought his hand up, and caught the snake head before it hit him. He didn't even wince when he felt the fangs sink into his flesh. He ripped the snake out of her hands, and swung it furiously. The tail whipped around the Amazon's neck, and Sesshoumaru jerked his hand. There was a snap, and blue haired girl fell to the ground, her head hanging at an odd angle. 

            Sesshoumaru instantly hurled the snake aside, and it became a spear again. He held up his hand, and inspected the two, deep fang marks right at the base of his wrist. Poison. His breath shuddered slightly, and his eyes narrowed. His hand blurred before his vision. Hopefully, he would recover before they did. He slumped forward onto the ground. 

            It was only after a few moments before Morgan risked poking his head out of an ally near the scene. He walked cautiously to the unconscious Sesshoumaru, and inspected him. 

            He stroked his beard as he considered what to do. He should probably help him. It would get the pirate into the good side of the ruler of the city. Morgan cocked his head, and blinked. Well, there was only one thing to do. He reached down, and grabbed Sesshoumaru firmly by his shoulder guard. He hefted the tai-youkai up over her shoulder. Then he unhooked the shoulder guard. 

            Sesshoumaru slumped back to the street floor, and Morgan hefted the shoulder guard, testing its weight. It was worth a good sum. With that, he disappeared down the street, heading for the harbor. 


	18. Tensions

            Wow! It's been a while. Man, oh, man!

            Sorry I haven't actually gotten any chapters up for a while. It's been crazy lately. I'm pleased to announce, however, that Taming of the Shrew went splendidly. We knocked 'em dead.

            Now, there was a question as to where this happens in the IY timeline. Two weeks completely split from the original timeline right before IY and the gang meet Kouga. I.E. right after InuYasha learns to use the wind-scar. AS for the rest of the stuff that has happened since then, it hasn't yet. No Kagura, or Kanna. IY can become a full demon only because his fight with Atma unlocked his Demon blood.

            Anywho, here we Go!

It was early morning when Kagome woke up. She didn't set her alarm that early, and she was normally a late sleeper, therefore, confusion set in before reason. Why on earth should she be up this early? Her eyes crunched closer together, and her nose wrinkled in displeasure. Kagome did not like morning. Kagome didn't even like noon. Kagome had a mild tolerance for evening, but that was about it. And Kagome most certainly didn't open her eyes before nine, even on school days (Souta often had to guide her to school, because of this habit).

            But there was a start for all things. One eye pricked open, ever so slightly. She could detect light, but not much more than that. The other eye slitted the same amount. Then they opened. And were greeted by two molten amber orbs.

            Kagome's eyes widened, and she sat up very suddenly. This caused her forehead to ram almost directly up InuYasha's nose. The hanyou's eyes widened, and he fell backwards from his sitting position right above Kagome's head to the ground with a startled yelp and a titanic crash.

            Kagome herself gave a little squeal of surprise, and was intantly out of bed, blushing madly, and clutching her blanket around her slim frame. Had InuYasha been watching her _sleep_? Her breath came in raggedy little gasps as one hand clutched itself just over her collarbone. She let out a long sigh as InuYasha struggled to his feet.

            "What the hell wazzat for, wench?" He demanded angrily, his thick eyebrows furrowing.

            "What were you doing in my room?" Kagome demanded right back, clutching the blanket around herself even tighter, blushing madly. Granted, she wasn't wearing anything obscene: a pair of light, loose shorts, and a loose tanktop, but _still_! It was the principal of the thing!

            "I was waiting for you to wake up!" He said, crossing his arms. He was in his white under haori, and red hakama, and his expression was slightly hurt (Although the slightly swollen nose contributed to this greatly).

            Kagome sighed, and sat back down on the bed. "Fine." She said, exasperated. "Just shoo. I need to get dressed."

            InuYasha sighed, and strode out of the room. Kagome sneaked over to the door, and shut it behind him. Then she let out an extreme sigh. Well _that _was something to wake up to…

            _And not to bad of a something either._

            Kagome made a sudden strangling sound at her own thought. No way! That thought had not come from her...

            _No matter how hot InuYasha is._

            Kagome blushed even more, and strode over to her dresser. Jeez, see him without his shirt on _once_ and you can't stop thinking about him. Her blush slowly died as she selected her clothes.

            She grinned. One of the greatest things about being out of school. She pulled a pair of shorts out of the drawers, and a long T-Shirt out of another. It was nice to wear regular clothes occasionally. She pulled on the clothes, and ambled downstairs amiably.

            InuYasha was already at the table, munching happily on an apple. Kagome nodded to him by way of greeting, and headed over towards the cereal cupboard. Quickly and efficiently, she pulled out some rice crispies, and poured herself a bowl. "So, what's the plan?" She asked, sitting down across from him.

            InuYasha looked up at her, and shrugged. "I guess we'll leave just a little after breakfast." He mumbled. "You better pack all those books you love so much."

            Kagome shuddered a little. Did InuYasha really think that she liked _algebra_? She giggled. "It's summer break, InuYasha." She said. "No more school for a few months."

            InuYasha looked up suddenly, and grinned at her. Kagome blinked for only a minute, and winced. Shouldn't have said that…

            InuYasha grinned. "Well, then. You don't need to come back from hunting jewel shards then, do ya?"

            "Right." Kagome said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Let's just find Miroku and Sango first. Then we can worry about the jewel shards."

            InuYasha snorted, and nodded. "Yeah, yeah. You're probably right." He sighed. "Naraku's probably having a hay-day on the shards while we're off doing all this crap, though."

            Kagome nodded. "Well, then." She said, looking on the bright side. "We'll just have to get them back!"

            InuYasha snorted. "Like that'll be easy."

            Kagome gave him a low, threatening look, then stood up. "I'm gonna make us dinner for tonight."

            "Ramen?" The word was instantly flung at her.

            Kagome smiled at him. "Fried eggs, for tonight. I'll bring some ramen along, though."

            InuYasha smiled happily, as Kagome began rummaging around in the kitchen. InuYasha never really learned to cook, but always enjoyed watching Kagome do it. She seemed really happy when she was cooking. Plus there were the smells. Kagome and fresh food. InuYasha loved tasty smells, and the food didn't smell bad either.

            Kagome very quickly cracked the eggs into a bowl, whipped them, and had them in the skillet with record time. InuYasha smiled as the smell of cooking eggs hit him. It was a great smell. He stood up, and wandered silently over behind Kagome, staring at the frying eggs.

            The smells tempted him, but he waited until they were almost done before he gave in. One clawed hand snaked over Kagome's shoulder, and towards the pan. Kagome noticed, and quickly pecked away the hand with a pair of chopsticks. This, however, turned out not to be the greatest of ideas. InuYasha scowled, and suddenly his other arm wrapped around her slim waist. Kagome's scheeks suddenly lit up in a blush, and she let out a frightened squeak as she was lifted of the floor. InuYasha held her above his hand like a rag doll, her screaming at him. He leaned down, sniffed the eggs, and popped a bit of them into his mouth.

            "InuYasha!" Kagome screamed, pulling desperately at the hem of her T-Shirt, attempting to keep it from riding up. "Put me down. They'll burn!"

            InuYasha shrugged, and plopped her down, grinning. "Not to bad." He said. "Hurry up and pack your stuff after your done." He said happily. "We need to leave pretty soon."

Kagome breathed hard, and turned quickly, not letting InuYasha see her blush. How _dare _he? She scowled, at him over her shoulder, and continued stirring the eggs, furious.

The sun was high by the time InuYasha and Kagome managed to haul themselves out of the well. The day was growing steadily hotter, and it was already unbearably humid. InuYasha leapt out of the well with a simple leap, and landed on the edge of the wood border.  
Kagome proceeded just a few moments later, pulling herself up past the wood barrier, and planting her feet on the lush grass. Plopping her backpack on the grass beside her, she took a deep, vibrant breath, and sighed happily. "Wow, I haven't been back here in a while." She said happily. "Sure feels good to be here again."  
InuYasha smirked. "Yeah, yeah, well, c'mon." He muttered. "You don't have your bike with you, so I'm probably going to end up doing all the work."  
Kagome blinked. She hadn't even thought about her bike in what felt like forever. "What did happen to my bike?" She asked, thinking hard.  
"Probably just a pile of ash back where we fought Atma." InuYasha remarked. "I didn't take it back with us."  
Kagome shrugged. "Well, I need to stop by Kaede's hut. I'm all out of arrows, and my bow is probably somewhere in Vadise's forest."  
InuYasha shrugged. "Feh. Like those dinky little arrows of yours do any good." He declared loudly. "You just get in my way."  
Maybe some time ago, this response would have annoyed Kagome. Maybe some time ago, she would have sat him six feet under. But things change. "Feh." Kagome scoffed in almost perfect imitation of InuYasha's demeanor. "Like those 'dinky little arrows' haven't saved your butt a time or two." She said, her voice low in her range, and arrogant.  
InuYasha opened his mouth to respond, but decided better of it. "Fine." He conceded, and knelt down, arms out to the side. "Hop on, and we'll get there faster."  
Kagome blinked, and a blush slowly crept across her face. What? She hadn't expected this? Of coarse InuYasha would carry her! Well, she didn't have her bike after all... and they needed to fast.  
The image of InuYasha's chiseled form flashed once again through her mind, and the blush spread. This was no big deal! She had ridden InuYasha before...  
Ridden InuYasha...Her inner thoughts echoed it back at her consiousness laughingly, and the blush turn from a light pink to an outright burning red.  
"Hey, C'mon..." InuYasha grumbled. "Are you coming, or not?"  
Stiffly, she put her hands on InuYasha's back, and, thinking very hard of anything but the figure of the hanyou in front of her, jumped on.  
InuYasha must have noticed the oddness in her movements, because he looked back, and raised an eyebrow at her. "You okay?" He asked.  
Kagome turned quickly away from him, hiding her blush. "I'm fine!" She said quickly. InuYasha sighed, turned around, and wrapped his arms around her legs, and with a few running steps, broke into a full fledged sprint towards the village, Kagome blushing all the way.

InuYasha was panting hard, and sweat was getting into his eyes. Why did today have to be so damn humid? His tongue hang out of his mouth ever so slightly, and his ears were flattened down on the top of his head. Ironic how much he looked like a dog...  
Kagome was still clinging oddly to his back. She had been acting odd all morning. First it had been the scream when she first woke up, and freezing up with he had touched her at breakfast... She had barely talked at all during lunch, and all while they we're riding, she had been holding on oddly.  
Whenever he had carried Kagome before, She had always clutched him tightly, and wrapped her arms around his neck. She had been easy to carry then. But now, she was making it very difficult. She was grasping him lightly, joining her hands together across his sternum. He was practically having to hold her on by himself. He couldn't run much longer like this. But it was getting late anyway, and they should probably set up camp pretty soon. Kagome had brought her sleeping bag again, and had even cooked a special dinner for them. InuYasha hoped it was Ramen. The hanyou looked around momentarily, to see if her recognized where they were. They were heading east, so... there should be...  
InuYasha's mouth widened in a grin. He knew exactly where they were, and there was a camp site just a few miles ahead. "We'll be stopping pretty soon." He said loudly over his shoulder, and quickened his pace. He honestly didn't envy horses. They didn't lead very good lives. But at least he had Ramen to look forward to, and not just oats.  
It was almost half an hour before they reached their destination, and InuYasha was almost completely exhausted. He staggered into the clearing, and instantly set Kagome down. She blinked, and took a few step away, unsteady on her own feet.  
InuYasha in the mean time, collapsed to all fours, panting heavily. He did, however, manage to look up in time to see the expression on Kagome's face when she saw where they were.  
Kagome looked out in wonderment, letting her backpack fall to the ground. A smile rapidly spread across her face. She recognized this place. It was a large clearing, full of high, waist length grass. One end of the clearing swealled up a large hill, down which a tricklying waterfall cascaded into a large, natural pool. This was the place they had come to almost a month before, where they had played the gigantic game of tag. Kagome's smiled widened, and she whirled back at InuYasha. "Did you know this was here?" She demanded.  
InuYasha staged to his feet, and crossed his arms. "Feh." He scoffed. "Trust a wench to get all sentimental about stuff. I just knew that there was a camp site here."  
Kagome smiled at InuYasha, not really believing him at all. The odd thoughts that had been running through her head all day were finally receding along with the sun. Her smiled widened. "So you don't remember playing tag, do you?"  
InuYasha blinked. "Umm..." He muttered, not sure what the right answer was. "Feh..." He finished intelligently.  
"Then let me refresh your memory." She said, and suddenly dashed forward, slapping him lightly on the cheek. "Tag!" She called out as she whipped around and dashed into the grass. "You're it!"  
InuYasha blinked, and blinked again. Damn! He was tired, sore, and out of breath. But he'd be damned a thousand times over if he was going to let Kagome beat him! He disappeared, following her furrowed trail into the deep, deep grass.  
  
Tagged! Kagome Kagome scowled as she felt a light claw mark graze across her face, and whipped around to hear a loud, arrogant laugh, and a trail of red haori streaking away from her. She scowled angrily, and stretched slightly. InuYasha was fast, but he had also been running all day. Kagome, on the other hand, was fresh. Her grin turned wolfish, and she dashed of, giving chase.  
It was much easier to run in proper sneakers. She twisted and turned through the grass, attempting to out-meneuver the quick hanyou. She even tried sneak attacks, croushing down in the grass, and waiting for him to pass by. But his stupid sensitive dog ears always clued him in on her location. She quickly dodged into one of the paths he had left in the grass, and started following it. One of her eyes was kept on the moving patch of red across the valley. He seemed to have taken to staying on the opposite side of the clearing, that she was on. She sighed, and turned to look strait at him. Even from here she could see him breathing hard. There was only one thing to do.  
Kagome very suddenly took of at a full sprint, rushing strait at the hanyou. InuYasha paused only a second, as if deciding which way to run, and then took off to his left. Kagome instantly began veering to cut him off. InuYasha would of coarse say that he could have outrun her. He would say that his feet got tangled in the long grass on purpose. He would say that he meant to take so long getting up again. And he would definitely say that he meant to get caught. AS it was, none of this was actually true. InuYasha stumbled to his feet, cursing the damn long grass with every swear word he knew. Kagome was right behind him now, still sprinting. He stumbled to his feet, and got ready to leap away, but it was to late. Kagome jumped, and she seemed to hang in the air forever, sailing towards him, both hands out-stretched. Her face caught in a glorious expression of joyful exhaltation, her raven hair flying around her like a wild lions mane. InuYasha blinked at her, and just for that moment, she was the most beautiful creature in the world. Her hands connected with his chest suddenly, and reality came crashing down on him. Then he came crashing down, Kagome landing hard on top of him. Kagome laughed for just a second, before realizing the position she was in. She was lying directly on top of InuYasha!  
His abs feel as hard as they look...The little perverted part of her mind stated matter of factly.  
Her eyes widened, and the infamous blush instantly permeated her face. Almost instantly, she struggled to get up. Unfortunately, it was at this exact moment that InuYasha decided to struggle to get up as well. Their legs worked against each other, and quickly got tangled. Kagome squealed as she suddenly pitched forward again, only this time farther forward, her face now pressed into the side of InuYasha's head.  
"Baka!" InuYasha declared loudly, shoving her aside. "Jeez, you're clumsy!"  
Kagome rolled aside, and quickly pushed herself to her feet, willing the blush to leave her face. It didn't work. "Sorry." She declared, turning around quickly as InuYasha turned to face her. "Guess I don't know my own strength."  
InuYasha snorted. "Whatever." His gaze shifted upwards. "We should probably make a fire pretty soon. It's getting dark."  
Kagome looked up, and sure enough, the sun was disappearing behind the clouds. She sighed, and backed away from InuYasha. "I'm gonna go take a bath in the spring over there." She said, pointing in the direction of the spring.  
InuYasha nodded, and headed back to where they had left her pack. Kagome saighed, and looked up at the rapidly appearing stars. She had never had these thoughts before. Her blush deepened. Well, sure, she had thought about kissing InuYasha, once of twice. Maybe even more than once or twice... but she hadn't really ever thought about him... this badly.  
Her blush deepened even further, and she wrapped her arms around her chest. She just needed a good bath. That was it. She quickly wandered over to towards the pool, and began to strip of her clothes.  
She was careful not to make much of a splash when she slipped into the cool water. It was a nice reprieve from the warm night, and she shivered slightly. Then she took a deep breath, and plunged her entire head under water.  
  Like a healing salve, the water caressed her, washing away the dirt and sweat from the road. Her head burst through the water, much clearer than it had been before. Why was it so much easier to think when you were suspended in water?  
She swam around just a bit, and finally brought herself to rest on a rock near the side of the pool. Jeez, she really had to get all these weird thoughts under control. They were distracting. Her eyes slid closed a bit, and she sank down in the clear water all the way up to her neck. It wasn't like she was... okay, well yes. Yes, she did like him. A lot. But still...  
So what if he was hot... very hot. But not really overly muscular. He didn't really have a six pack, even. He was just lithe, and the muscles were just sort of evident under his skin, almost like his body was made of liquid steel. Her smiled widened, and her eyebrows slackened... Really, really, really hot.  
Heye eyes widened suddenly, and her blush rioted unchecked throughout her cheeks. Man, he was just a guy after all. And it wasn't like Kagome was wanting to have these fantasies... But the way her thoughts were going, you'd think she had a crush on him or something. And that was just not possible at all. He was a traveling companion, sure. Yes, she liked him a little. Yes, maybe even a little romantically. But she couldn't' afford a full, blown out crush! They were in the middle of a mission. Romantic stuff would only get in the way. She sighed. And besides, as far as she knew, InuYasha was still stuck on Kikyo. She hung her head ever so slightly. She hadn't thought about the dead priestess in a long time. A long sigh escaped her lips.  
It was at this time, however, that the waning moon decided that it was time for her thoughts to be interrupted. It peeked out from behind the clouds, and illuminated the water. She looked down into her reflection in the water, the rippling surface bending it at odd angles. It shone on her face. But it also revealed the silver haired hanyou sitting right above her.  
Her eyes widened, and she whipped around in the water. InuYasha was sitting on the rock she had been leaning on, facing away from her. She opened her mouth, and screamed, her face flushing with embarrassment. He had been spying on her! How dare he? The 'sit' in her throat died halfway out, and she sunk down into the water, defeated. What, like she could really stop him from looking now...  
InuYasha gave no reaction to the scream, save to flatten his dog ears to the side of his head. "You're so loud." He mumbled, his voice arrogant as usual. "Hurts my ears."  
Kagome's mouth tightened, and she turned around in the water, her face burning red. "You jerk." She whispered, knowing full well he could hear.  
InuYasha scoffed, and held out his hand. "You forgot these in your backpack." He said. Kagome turned her head. In his hand was her change of clothes, a bar of soap, and a little travel bottle of shampoo. She blinked.  
"You normally take 'em with you when you go bathing, so I figured you'd want them."  
Kagome made no motiong to move towards the hanyou.  
InuYasha sighed. "Jeez, don't be so uptight. I didn't look at you."  
Kagome remained silent.  
"Besides, this is the only real place that we can make a camp fire. The grass is way to dry everywhere else." He shrugged. "And you know what a pain the butt it is to clear away tall grass."  
Kagome sank even lower into the water, up to just above her mouth, and took a tentative stroke towards InuYasha.  
"Lighten up." He commanded. "I'm not gonna look at you. I just wanna give you this stuff." There was a light pull as the shampoo and soap were yanked from his hands.  
"Leave the clothes on the rock." Kagome said, very timidly.  
InuYasha nodded, and placed the clothes neatly on the stone. "Hurry up." He commanded, "I wanna eat soon." With that, he wandered off back into the night.  
Kagome blew a sigh of relief, and quickly went to scrubbing her hair, all thoughts of Kikyo and love momentarily forgotten.


	19. Courage

Okay, before I begin, I'll respond to two reviews.  
Time's Mortal Enemy: Hey, hey! It's my favorite reviewer. Don't worry about taking so long. I actually only got this chapter up a few days ago, because of really hard schedules and so forth. Anywho, yes! There will be much more romance between InuYasha and Kagome than there was in 'Two Weeks.' Hehe, and yes, last chapter was very fun to write.  
Shadow of Reality: Well, I'm sorry you're so disappointed. I've really been trying hard to work on doing the characterization well. Unfortunately for your sake, I rather like where I'm going with this. In addition, I'm well aware of everything that happened in Two Weeks, and rest assured: Kagome and InuYasha did not have any type of romantic relationship by the end. If they had, I would have to where left to go for this fic. I'm well aware of how this is going to go, and I'm fairly sure you'll be pleased with how it turns out. But, whatever.  
And a quick apology! Last chapter, the format was really messed up, and there were one or two really stupid typos. I thikn there are still some bugs with the system, cause I can't get this to look right either. Oh, well. Please, jsut bear with me.

Anywho, now we head back to the wonderful world of Sesshoumaru and Rin. Yay!

P.S. I once again refer to Sesshoumaru's fluffy as his boa. That is what it is by my book. If you don't like it, deal with it. Don't whine to me. I've had at least a gazillion reviews saying, "Hey! Sesshoumaru's fluffy is his tail, stupid."

Granted, these people also think I'm a girl, still. Sigh Anywho, on with the fic.   
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"Hey, Atma." Kiriln said with a toothy smirk. Her massive coils surged around in the water, and caused miniature tidal waves to rush through the water. "Long time no see, eh?"  
Atma crossed her arms over her black breastplate. "I hoped it would be longer." She said curtly. "What are you doing here?"  
Kiriln shrugged. "Interesting things are happening here." She said. "It sounds like it could be fun."  
Atma scowled, and lifted one hand in front of her face. "You rebelled against the dragon race, Kiriln." She said softly. Lightning crackled up and down her hand, and across the tips of her claws.

"Yes." Kiriln remarked. "Yes I did. You should try it some day. It's very fun."  
Atma growled; a low feral sound that promised bloodshed. "Why did you come back?" She demanded. "Is it to help to free Ryuukotsutsei? Was that the reason?"  
"That freak?" Kiriln laughed. "I think not." Her eyes closed. "I came simply... to observe."  
Atma took a few slow, deliberate steps towards the serpent. "I really don't think that answers good enough." She hissed dangerously.  
Kiriln didn't blink. "Really?" She asked slowly bringing more of her coils out of the churning water, and onto the pier. "What would you say if I didn't care?"  
Nothing was said. Atma help up a clawed hand, and clenched it together, her face captured in a cruel grin. The pier around her suddenly shattered, sending shards of alabaster flying into the air. Her long red hair flew upwards with the force, and her feet slowly lifted off the ground. Still, Kiriln didn't flinch.  
She slowly lowered herself back down into the water, the shards of stone bouncing off of her scales. She shook her head. "Still just using blasts to silence those you don't like, hmm?" She sighed. "I suppose that you didn't learn much while I was gone."  
One side of Atma's mouth lifted in a sneer. "What are you talking about?" She demanded. Her draconic tail lashed in the air, and long black wings unfurled from underneath her royal, purple cloak.  
"You're relying on instinct." Kiriln said patiently. "You think that because your instinct says you are the ancient wyrm, then instinct is infallible. Instinct won't let you go wrong." She snorted. "You don't understand anything."  
Atma snarled, and clenched her hands at her sides. A bolt of lightning launched out of the clear sky, and slammed down into the water near one of Kiriln's coils.  
"You think instinct is infallible." Kiriln hissed. "That it would never lead you astray." She snorted. "Too late. It already has."  
Atma scowled, and crossed her arms. "I wouldn't be so bold, if I were you."  
Kiriln smiled. "Your not my ruler." She said.  
Atma's frown deepened, and her eyes narrowed dangerously. "Then what do you live by?"  
Kiriln simply looked back. "You have no ruler either. What do you live by?"  
Whatever was to happen next was lost. It was at this point that captain Morgan on the Banana Trading Co. No. 7 appeared once again on the pier. He had Sesshoumaru's spiked shoulder guard clasped in his arms.  
Three pairs of eyes whirled to face him. He blinked. "Ummm..." He said slowly. "I guess you three are having' a little party here..." He began to inch towards the shattered pier, and towards his vessel. "I'll just be going now. You have fun." He began inching a little fast.  
Tiamet (Who had retreated to the base of the pier when the lightning started to fly) blinked at the piece of armor in his hand. "Is that Sesshoumaru's shoulder guard?" She asked; her expression unbelieving.  
Morgan held up the thing in his hand. "This?" He asked. "Oh, well..." he stuttered. "You see, there was this guy with silver hair, an' he was chasin' me. Tall fellow, looked very regal." He held up a finger. "But you see, then these other two girls dropped down outta nowhere, and the three of 'em start fighting." A few more steps towards the ship. "So they're goin' at it. So then I figure that I'd better get out a there before I get caught up in the mix. But before I can make a break for it." He was almost there... "The blue haired woman throws a snake at the silver haired man. The snake bites him, and then he keels over."  
Tiamet's expression wilted. "Sesshoumaru keeled over?" She demanded. "I can't remember the last time Sesshoumaru keeled over."  
Morgan snapped, as he reached his boat. "Right! Sesshoumaru! That was his name. Well, anyway, he didn't seem to be usin' this anymore, so I figured I wouldn't waste it." He finished, hefting the shoulder guard. "Well, my business is done, so I guess I'll be going." He turned around to get into his Ship. Only to discover his Ship was no longer there.  
Where his ship had been, was a hole. A large hole. Water was pouring into it, yet it gave no signs of filling up. There were sounds of growling, and clawing emanating from the hole. Above the hole was floating the one member of the group that Morgan had yet to recognize. She looked considerably more like a demon than anyone else Morgan had seen to date.  
She had long, flowing crimson hair that turned black at the tips. It was currently flying up around her head, and weaving together, blown by unseen breezes. She wore a black breastplate, and black thigh guards. Underneath the plate she wore a Midnight blue one piece that covered the rest of her skin, save her hands and head. Heavy black boots adorned her feet, and a long, billowing royal purple cloak tumbled don her back. From underneath the cloak were two, sweeping, black, scaled, draconic wings, arching and spread behind her. A long, scaled tail lashed the air, and her arms were crossed in front of her chest. Her sharp, pretty features were caught up in a look of sheer displeasure. The sun was beginning to set behind her, her face in an ominous shadow.  
Morgan looked down into the pit, regarding it carefully. "A very nice hole." He complimented."  
No response from the woman.  
"I'd suspect that it leads to a realm of ultimate pain, yes?" Morgan continued, rubbing his beard.  
A brief, curt nod.  
"And chances are I'm going to end up there unless I do exactly what you want, correct?"  
Another nod.  
"Hmmm." Morgan mused, weighing his options. "How unpleasant is ultimate pain." He asked.  
"Very." Tiamet supplied form behind him.  
Morgan nodded. "And... how unpleasant is what will happen to me if I stay here."  
"Who were Lord Sesshoumaru's attackers?" The woman in front of him.  
"Two Chinese looking girls." Morgan said quickly. "One with blue hair, one with purple. Can I leave now?"  
"Shit." The woman swore. "Oni and Shin. Didn't think they'd get this far, this fast." She took a step forward in midair, and suddenly disappeared. Morgan blinked, and whirled around. The woman was now behind him, walking away, down the street he had come from. "Tiamet." She commanded smartly as she crossed the red dragon. "Come."  
Tiamet grinned, and shrugged. "Well," She said sadly. "Back to work."  
Morgan blinked, and turned around. The hole was gone, and the Banana was right where it had been. "That was an illusion, wasn't it." He muttered.  
Kiriln nodded her large head. "Yes. But don't feel bad. Had you tried to call her bluff, she might have turned it real on you."  
Morgan shuddered. "A friend of yours?" He asked.  
"Sort of." Kiriln said with a shake of her head. "Her name's Atma, and she's the ruler of the dragons here in Japan."  
Morgan stroked his beard. "I see." He said. "Why exactly to the dragons here look like humans?"  
"Because it's more efficient." Kiriln said. "Besides, Dragons aren't at all like you Europeans think about them. We come in all different shapes and sizes, and those become moot as soon as we learn how to change them."  
"Change them?" Morgan asked, staring out to sea.  
"Change them." Said Kiriln, walking past him on two very human looking feet.  
Morgan blinked, and opened his mouth in shock. It was definitely Kiriln. Her voice was the same. But Morgan quickly decided that he liked this form better.  
The first thing he noticed (and the first thing he noticed about many women) was that she had curves. Very nice curves, in fact. A trim waist, not-too-wide hips, and a full bust. Morgan always appreciated a well-drawn figure. Then there were her clothes. Morgan wished there were less of them, but he couldn't' complain all in all. She was dressed all in white, with yellow, black and red trim. She wore an intricate garment that seemed to be made from hundreds of layers of silk, tailored to her exact measurements. The thing wasn't tight, but it was distinctly made to show off. A white sash was tied around her waist, synching in the garment. She wasn't particularly tall, but wasn't short either. Her face had soft features, save a sharp, small nose. Long, azure hair fell down her back, tied up in three thick braids. Two smaller braids fell down either side of her face, framing it. Her feet were bare, and her fingers and toes had no claws. Her skin had an almost pale blue tone to it, while her lips were a darker shade of blue. Her eyes were much like Tiamet's. No white, or dark. But instead of crimson, Kiriln's eyes matched the shade of her hair. A fair, shiny azure.  
She turned around, and held out her arms. "You see?" She asked casually. "Normally dragons choose two forms that they particularly like. Changing forms does take work, because you have to know exactly how the body works to do it. So we only have two or three, so we can be more familiar with the bodies, and be able to switch them at a moments notice."  
Morgan absorbed all this information steadily, and then asked the only intelligent question a pirate could ask given the situation. He held up a finger at her, "How did you manage to get clothes on when you just transformed?"  
Kiriln stared at him, and crossed her arms. "Why are you thinking about me without clothes on?" She countered.  
"Pirate." Morgan pointed out.  
Kiriln sighed. "Fun." She said sarcastically. This was going to be a long adventure. "Come on." She said, following the path taken by Atma and Tiamet. "I haven't seen Sesshoumaru in a while."  
Morgan looked down at the shoulder guard in his hands. "Will you protect me if he wakes up?" He asked plaintively.  
Kiriln smiled flirtatiously. "Maybe." She said, walking down the street.  
Morgan sighed. "So, why is this city consisting mainly of monsters." He asked, falling in beside the dragon. "Are they dragons too?"  
Kiriln shook her head. "No. They're called youkai. Dragons are much more rare."  
"How come they don't exist everywhere else in the world."  
"They do. However not in such mass amounts. For some odd reason, there are much more youkai in Asia."  
Morgan nodded. "So, why is this city here?" He asked.  
Kiriln smiled. "Well, it all started out when a tai-youkai, that is a noble youkai, like Sesshoumaru, tried to set up an establishment here, on this island." She smiled, and held up one perfect finger. "In fact, it was Sesshoumaru' great grandfather. This was more than five hundred years ago, mind you. Well this Tai-Youkai, InuTeisu, was extremely arrogant. So he went up to the current residents of the islands, which were the dragons, and demanded that they let him set up a city."  
Morgan winced. He had only been around Tiamet and Atma for a few minutes, but he could tell they weren't the type to make demands of.  
"The dragons were naturally, not too pleased with him. But they did as he said, and helped make this city. InuTeisu was very pleased, and named it Shinjuku. However, he didn't really get to enjoy it much longer, because the dragons weren't very happy with him."  
"And what happened to him?" Morgan asked, liking where this was going.  
"They obliterated him." Kiriln said matter of fatly. "With much blood spray involved, if memory serves."  
Morgan shuddered. "Did Atma pull out her little hole of pain?" He asked.  
Kiriln giggled. "Actually, Atma wasn't around at that point. She's fairly young, compared to the rest of us."  
Morgan blinked. "But..." He said. "She's your ruler."  
Kiriln smiled. "Yes well, how we decide on rulers is a story for another time." She said, then pressed on with her story. "After we obliterated InuTeisu, we decided to let his son keep the city. His son, InuShinku, was a slightly more responsible ruler. And so it went, from InuShinku, to his son InuTaisho."  
Morgan raised an eyebrow. "I think I'm seeing a trend here." He remarked. "Why doesn't Sesshoumaru have an 'inu?'"  
Kiriln chuckled. "Well, Sesshoumaru isn't actually a Tai-Youkai." She said. "But that's confidential information."  
Morgan blinked. "He doesn't want anybody knowing?"  
"We don't want him to know. He's something more than just a Tai- Youkai. Has to do with who his mother was."  
"And who was that?"  
One of Kiriln's fingers wagged in front of his face. "You aren't allowed to know that." She said.  
Morgan sighed. "Fine." He said, then held up the shoulder guard. "You feel like running. I want to get this back on his lordship before he wakes up if it's all the same to you."  
Kiriln laughed, and took off down the street, running.  
--------------------------------  
Sesshoumaru-Sama was late. Rin paced back and forth. He had said that he was only going to speak with Atma-Sama, and then be right back. But he had been gone for many hours now. Rin stood in the giant entry hall of the lord of Shinjuku's palatial manor. His lunch was going to get cold!  
She sighed, and strode up to the heavy, wooden doors of the manor. IF he didn't want to come back home, Rin would have to just go out and fetch him. She pushed open the doors, and headed out past the long courtyards into the city.  
From the moment she hit the streets, she could see that something was wrong. Aaron must have gone on a rampage again, because the streets were deserted. Uncle Aaron was amusing, but he really did get a little excessive occasionally. She sighed, and headed of through the streets, checking all the back allies she knew of (and that was a lot). Finally, she found one where there were a few stray youkai holed up.  
"Hey, you." She said, leaning up against the corner of the ally.  
The youkai looked out at her, their fine clothing torn from running. "Is it over?" One of them asked.  
Rin shrugged, pulling at her hank of hair held up by the band. "I don't see Aaron anywhere." She said. "But what about you. Have you seen Sesshoumaru-Sama?"  
The youkai looked aghast at her. "He was fighting with two weird Chinese looking youkai, down towards the central square." One of them said. He said it with an air of cautious pride. Rin knew that normally, they wouldn't even talk to a human. But they had learned long ago that Rin was to command a certain amount of respect...  
Rin nodded politely. "Thank you!" She said, and with a flash was gone.  
She quickly darted through back allies, dark passages, and other various catacombs of the city. She was fairly sure that not even Sesshoumaru-Sama knew all the routes she did.  
It wasn't long before she reached the street. She darted out of one of the allies, her Kimono hitched up slightly to make it easier to run. "Sesshoumaru-Sama?" She called out into the street.  
It wasn't until she was almost upon the scene that she was the bodies. There were three of them. The closes one, lying slumped against the side of a building, had long purple hair. Her face was scarred ever so slightly, and she wasn't breathing. The second one had blue hair. Her neck was at an odd angle with her body, and a broken spear was lying next to her. And the third body was...  
"Sesshoumaru-Sama!" Rin practically screamed. Like a flash, she was at his side. He was lying on his back, half cushioned by his boa. He looked very much like the first time she had seen him. Only now his eyes were closed, and breath was barely coming through his mouth. His skin looked paler than normal, and his hands were clammy. "Sesshoumaru-Sama?" She asked, leaning over him. No answer. She scowled, and put her ear to his chest.  
Well, his heart was still going strong at least. Naturally, he would go and get himself injured like this. Rin quickly began to check over his clothes. There were a few rips, put no actual punctures. A little blood, but it didn't look like his. She inspected his clawed hand, and her eyes narrowed. There were two little holes, just above his wrist. A bite of some sort.

She was pulled out of her reverie by a groan from behind her. She whirled around, and blinked in shock. The purple haired girl was breathing again. Slowly, she leaned forward from the wall, and stumbled to her feet. The scars that had marred her face before were gone. Slowly she looked up through stray locks of hair. Her eyes were glowing inhumanely. Rin backed up, eyes wide with fear. This was definitely not a good situation.

The glowing eyes slowly fixed on her, and the woman snarled. She clenched her hand in front of her, and a short, slender, Chinese blade appeared in it with a flash. "I'll take the fang…" She hissed, taking a step towards Rin and Sesshoumaru.

Rin gasped in fear, and stumbled back again, tripping over Sesshoumaru's boa. This woman was going to kill her. Rin really didn't want to die…

"Move girl." The woman said slowly, taking another step.

Rin's eyes widened. The woman wasn't trying to kill _her_. She was trying to kill Sesshoumaru. Rin's eyes narrowed. Well, this changed things a bit. Thinking quickly, Rin looked around. Sesshoumaru had told her that he always kept his boa weighted, because it made for an unexpected weapon. The woman was ever drawing closer. She scrambled to the side, heading for the end of the boa.

The woman took another step.

Rin frantically searched the end of the boa. Finally, her hands felt something hard and sturdy through the fluffy material. She scowled, and quickly pulled whatever it was out.

The woman pulled up her blade, and brought it down on Sesshoumaru. But before it ever hit, a fifteen pound chunk of raw iron smashed into the side of her head with a sickening smack. The woman didn't even have time to be surprised. The momentum from the rock transported into her head, and she fell five feet from where she had been standing before. Blood oozed from the crater in her head onto the white tile.

Rin quickly scrambled to where the iron chunk had fallen, and hefted it again, feeling its solid weight in her hands. She stood in front of Sesshoumaru breathing hard, watching the woman suspiciously. Her lower lips was trembling in and out.

A sickening crack once again echoes through the street, and with a little shriek, Rin turned to face the source. The other woman, the one with blue hair, was now rising to her feet. Rin grimaced determinedly, and spread her sandaled feet, clutching the block close.

The blue haired woman rose to her feet, emitting a low, feral growl. Her eyes were glowing crimson.

Rin backed up a step, her heels touching Sesshoumaru's side. Her eyes narrowed in grim determination.

The woman lunged forward, letting out a high, unearthly battle cry.   
Rin screamed back at her, and let fly with the rock.

The rock flew strait and true. Right into the woman's hand. Her fingers wrapped around the rock, and stopped it in mid-flight. She, however, kept coming, raising the rock high above her head, to smash it down.

Rin let out another scream, before a black shape superimposed itself in her vision, and a crack ran through the air.

Rin blinked at the black shape in front of her, and slowly it moved aside. It was that Dragon woman, Atma. Her gaze traveled from the dragon, arms crossed, and a self satisfied smirk on her face, to the thing on the wall of a nearby building. By it's blue armor, and vaguely human shape, she could tell that it used to be the woman. But it looked distinctly not-womanish anymore. More like a… thingy. Which was in a fire. For a very long time. Like several years.

She sighed, and looked around. Atma was standing near Sesshoumaru, looking down at him thoughtfully. Heading down the street was Tiamet. She was whistling a little tune, and walking very slowly. And just behind her were two strangers. One was dressed all in leather, had a funny hat on, and a big white feather down one side of his face. The other was a beautiful woman dressed all in white silks, with long, blue hair the color of the clear, shallow sea.

Then her gaze shifted to Sesshoumaru-Sama. He needed help, fast. "You!" she instructed very suddenly, pointing at Atma.

The dragon looked up at him, and raised an eyebrow.   
"Carry him, and follow me." She instructed primly.

Atma blinked, then raised one side of her upper lip contemptuously. "Listen girl." She hissed, and held out her hand. In it was the iron rock. She dropped it heavily in front of Rin. "You may have been able to take out Shin," she said, pointing at the purple haired woman lying on the ground. "But don't think that gives you the right to order me around."

Rin didn't even blink. She reached down, and picked up the stone. "I said, carry him, and follow me." Once again, she pointed to Sesshoumaru.

Atma's eyes widened. "Do you know who I am?" She demanded, getting a bit angry. Behind her, the rest of the group had arrived, and was watching with interest.

"You're the leader of a pitiful crumbling race that consists of you and two others." Rin informed her plainly. This dragon was refusing to help Sesshoumaru-Sama, and that made the girl extremely angry.

Atma reacted as if struck. Her right arm clenched, and miniature little lightning bolts ran down it. "How dare you?" She demanded, her voice echoing inhumanely. She leaned down to stare Rin in the face. Her hair whipped up by unseen zephyrs, and her lips curled up in a feral snarl.

Rin's eyes level flatly. "Pick up Sesshoumaru." She said slowly. "He needs help."

"And if I don't?" Atma asked.

Fifteen pounds of iron very suddenly slammed into the side of the ancient wyrm's head. Atma was suddenly flung to the side, hitting the street prostrate, next to Shin. Rin hefted the rock, and pointed at the man with the feather in his hair. "You." She said, and pointed to Sesshoumaru. "Carry him, and follow me."

The man nodded, and said in a rough, leathery voice: "Yes ma'am." Quickly he dashed over, and hoisted Sesshoumaru over one shoulder. "You can call me Morgan." He added quietly to her. "It's polite ta call me by me name."

Rin gave no indication of being polite. "You." She said, pointing at Tiamet. "Get rid of these bodies."

Tiamet, however, was struggling not to laugh. She was looking at the sputtering Atma on the ground. The ancient wyrm was struggling desperately to regain her composure. She had blood on her lips, and on her nose, and looked absolutely outraged. "Can I get rid of that one too?" She stuttered, holding her sides with one hand and pointing to Atma with the other.

"If you want." Rin said, giving no sign of sarcasm. With that, she led the pirate off down the street. The odd, blue haired woman smiled lightly at the sputtering Atma, and then turned to leave.

Tiamet crossed her arms. "You know she's right." She commented.

"Shut up." Atma hissed.

"There are only three of us left. Not much of a clan."

"Maybe if they would stop running off on us, there would be more." Atma hissed, getting to her feet. Already the blood was gone from her face, and she was popping her nose back into order. "A pretty good blow." She admitted.

"I'll say." Tiamet nodded. "She sure did catch you by surprise."

Atma almost grinned, watching the little girl disappear into an ally. "She's a smart girl." She mused. "Did you know that she's been spying on the last three meetings that we had with lord Sesshoumaru?"

Tiamet blinked. "How does that one work?" She asked. "I thought we made that room almost completely private."

Atma nodded. "We did." She said. "There was only one secret listening spot. She managed to find it."

Tiamet shook her head. "Her name's Rin, right?"

"I can see why Sesshoumaru keeps her around." Atma said with a nod.

"You know." The red haired dragon said, inspecting Shin's body on the ground. "She reminds me a lot of InuYasha's mother."

Atma smiled wryly, and nodded. "Yes." She said.

"Will burning do any good?" She asked, regarding the bodies. "Don't these girls come back no matter what you do."

Atma shrugged, and pointed two fingers at the figure on the wall of a building that was Oni. It burst into flames. "If you completely destroy their bodies. Menomaru has to work his butt off to remake them, and the start back where he is." She said. "Might as well."

Tiamet grinned. "Great." She said, and the body of Shin burst into brilliant red flames. "I like burning stuff."

----------------------------

Deep the ancient forest, someone sat on the edge of the shaft of a gigantic tree. He was sitting in shadows, obscuring all his features except for the edges to his pale clothing, and greenish hair.

A slight growl emanated from his chest, and he snapped his fingers.

All around the shaft of the mighty tree, there were moths. The swarmed the air in clouds so thick they looked like fog. With a flick of his mind, the figure chose two. With a sudden flash, the two moths disappeared, and in their place were two amazons, one with blue hair, and the other with purple.

"Welcome back." The figure said in an ominous, bass voice. He was speaking in Chinese.

Oni and Shin fell to their knees in a kneel before the figure.

"You did well." Said the figure, striding back and forth within the shadows.

Shin's eyes opened slightly. "We failed to get the fang, Master." She said.

"Yes, however, you did fight Sesshoumaru."

"I fail to see the victory in this, Menomaru-Sama." Shin said.

The figure paced back. "He is stronger than he was before." He mused. "And he has the dragon's backing him as well."

"But he has the fang, Menomaru-Sama." Oni interjected, speaking perfect Chinese. "How are we to get the fang when he is so skilled?"

"He has _a _fang." Menomaru stressed, pacing back again. "The one we want, however, belongs to Taisho's hanyou son."

Shin's lips curled up in a sneer. "The hanyou?" She asked. "Why would the lord Taisho entrust his fang of destruction to a hanyou?"

"Taisho was a human lover." The Chinese lord said. "So is this hanyou, this _InuYasha_. Even now, he looks for his human friends."

"Then what shall we do now, Menomaru-Sama?" Oni asked.

"We will merely wait." He said. "The dragons know we are here, so we will wait for the opportune moment to strike."

Shin and Oni grinned. "Hai." They whispered in unison.


	20. Worries

            Well, I'm back.

            Once again, a quick comment to Time's Mortal Enemy.

            Hehehe, I did in fact have fun with this chapter as well. Atma will not have a love interest in this fic, nor the sequel. She did have a love interest in the past, and _that _will be very important. I've already hinted at it just a little. As for why she's behaving much differently, it's because I really, really disliked the way I portrayed her in two weeks. I wanted to make her different from the rest of the dragons, because she is in fact very different. I did a horrible job of that in the first fic, but I'm doing it better in this one. All the other dragons seem to be optimistic, happy, and child-like. Atma, on the other hand, has a much darker personality. If I can work it in, I'll try to explain why that is at some point or another.

            And for anyone who wants it, I now have a piano score for a theme I wrote for Atma. If anyone out there plays piano, I could E-mail it to you. It's on Finale Notepad, so you need Finale to read it.

            Anywho, I've only got three weeks of school left, so I'm counting down. I'm going to be updating more frequently, so look forward to it.

            Kagome sighed, her eyes drooping. Once again, InuYasha had carried her all day long, but being inactive can sometimes be as tiring as a day of hard work. But then again, days of rest are also good for thinking.

            The sun was beginning to set again, and Kagome's mind was much clearer than it had been last night. She had come to quite a few conclusions during the day.

            She liked InuYasha. Well sure, of coarse she did. But she… _really liked _him. Was it love… A light blush spread across her face, and for the millionth time that day, she was glad that InuYasha wasn't watching her. Maybe it was love. She smiled lightly. And so what if it was? And besides all that, InuYasha at least had some feelings for her. Maybe they weren't romantic, but there was something there. Sure he kept up the façade, hut he couldn't really hide it. He had worked his butt of to get her to Vadise, after all. And even then, he had given up the Shikon no Tama for her. She giggled silently. Just a few months ago, she had been convinced that that had been all he was journeying for. His constant claims towards her being a shard detector, his constant striving towards becoming a full demon. He threw it all away for her.

            She had finally managed to get her Miroku-ish thoughts under control, maybe around half way through the day. InuYasha must have noticed something, because he had remarked that she was holding on weird. Well, he hadn't figured it out yet, apparently.

            "Hey, Kagome." InuYasha said from over his shoulder, "Are you holding up alright?" He demanded. "Or are ya getting tired?"

            "You're the one doing all the work." She remarked. "Why would I be tired."

            InuYasha grinned. "Well," He remarked, "You are only human. You can get tired doing _anything_."

            Kagome scowled, and lightly punched his shoulder. "Watch it." She said ominously. "You just be sure you aren't ready to pass out. I seem to remember you falling over twice last night."

            InuYasha snorted, and hitched her up on his back, taking even faster steps. "Don't be ridiculous." He muttered. "My body's a ton tougher than yours."

            Kagome rolled her eyes. "Right." She said sarcastically. "Well, don't work to hard. We don't have that much food, you know." And that was no idle caution. InuYasha had been so tired last night that he had eaten all the fried egg without so much as a compliment, and then went through three packages of instant ramen. Then he ate all of Kagome's leftovers. They couldn't continue eating at that rate. Granted, InuYasha had been taking it easier today. He was traveling at more of a light jog than a fast run.

            The idea of running out of ramen, however, must have scared InuYasha just a little. "Well, I'll find a place to camp soon." He assured her. They were running down a well traveled path, so it wouldn't take too long. "I don't want you overexerting yourself."   
            "Right." Kagome muttered, rolling her eyes again.

            InuYasha grinned, and increased his pace, looking forward to just a bit of rest. It was maybe a mile longer before they found a suitable campsite. It had been obviously used before, a little pile of firewood sitting on the side of the road, and a pre-made fire pit.

            InuYasha casually shrugged Kagome from his shoulders, and turned to face the girl. "This look fine to you?" he demanded.

            Kagome nodded. "Looks good." She said, walking over to the fire-pit. "I'll go look for some kindling." She said practically. "You go see if you can find some water, so we can make this ramen."

            InuYasha sighed, and nodded.

            "Are you gonna eat all that?" InuYasha demanded, pointing his chopsticks at Kagome's bowl of ramen. Kagome's eyes narrowed, and she held her little disposable bowl of ramen close to her. InuYasha snorted. "Fine." He said, and quickly finished off the rest of his little bowl. "Is there any more?" He demanded.

            Kagome scowled. "We might be out here for a while, InuYasha." She said. "We need to conserve whatever food we have."

            InuYasha sighed, and shook his head. "What's the point of having food if we can't eat it?" He sighed.

            "It's called 'self control,' InuYasha." Kagome sighed with a roll of her eyes. "You could really use some."

            The hanyou scoffed, using his traditional 'feh.'

            Kagome took a few more bites of her ramen, chewing carefully before swallowing. Then she placed her little container neatly beside InuYasha's. "So," She said slowly. "Where are we headed?"

            InuYasha shrugged. "Probably towards the same place we left for Shinjuku the first time we went. I'll try and see if I can get Syldra to take us over again."

            "And hopefully we won't get attacked by another sea monster." Kagome said sarcastically.

            "Right." The hanyou sighed. "I'm more worried about bounty hunters."

            The young Miko stared at InuYasha. Had he just… admitted he was worried about something? "Do you really think that they're that strong?"

            InuYasha snorted. "They're called bounty hunters for a reason, Kagome." He spat into the fire. "Even human bounty hunters are feared by most youkai. Weak hunters don't last long enough to collect the bounties, so almost all of them are strong."

            Kagome swallowed. She had never really heard InuYasha talk like this before.

            "And youkai hunters are even worse. You know how Sango is in a battle?" The hanyou pressed on. "That's the kind of training these things will have. Most train from infancy to become hunters."

            "So, basically, you have about twenty Sangos chasing you?" Kagome asked, her voice wavering slightly.

            InuYasha nodded once. "Only worse. Sango isn't so hard because she fights relatively honorably when she has the choice. These things don't waste time with that."

            "Our lives are at stake then." Kagome said slowly, then shook her head. "Somehow, that doesn't seem like Sesshoumaru."

            "Not our lives." Interrupted InuYasha. "Sesshoumaru wants me alive, and unless you get in the way, the hunters won't bother you." He chuckled bitterly. "I'm not sure what Sesshoumaru wants, though. I don't think he wants to kill me." He looked up at Kagome. "Like you said, that ain't his style. He'd hunt me down himself to do that. He probably wants something else, but I sure don't wanna know what it is."

            Kagome nodded, absorbing all this. However, it was at this point that a large yawn took control of her, making her stretch luxuriously. InuYasha grinned wolfishly, and shrugged. "Figures that you'd get tired just riding all day." He said.

            Kagome shook her head. "If these hunters are as bad as you say they are, we should set up a watch. I'll stay up a little while longer. You get some sleep." She said, tiredness evident in her voice.

            InuYasha shook his head. "Even if we did get attacked, you couldn't wake me in time." He gave her his trademark arrogant grin. "Your human senses aren't good enough, and I don't need as much sleep as you anyway. You get some sleep, and I'll keep watch."

            Kagome shook her head, and yawned again. "You need sleep too." She objected, trying feebly to speak through the yawn.

            InuYasha shook his head, and stood up. "Even if you do stay up, I wouldn't sleep tonight anyway. Like I said, by the time you managed to wake me up, it'd be too late."

            Kagome blinked, and struggled not to yawn again. "Fine." She said. "You can stay up, but I'm staying up too."

            InuYasha raised an eyebrow, and nodded. He walked over to a nearby tree, sat down, and leaned against its thick sturdy bark.

            Kagome herself also sat, leaning back against her backpack. InuYasha must be really worried about these hunters… She would stay awake… If any attacked, InuYasha… would need her… help…

            Kagome's head nodded forward, and her eyes drooped closed.

            A sudden snap of a branch triggered Kagome's senses, and her head snapped up, eyes wide. The offending branch fell out of the overhanging canopy, falling just beside her. Her breath caught in her throat as she looked across from the still glowing embers, to where InuYasha had been sitting. He wasn't there.

            Instantly, Kagome froze. It was dark, probably in the early hours of the morning. The coals of the fire were still hot, and the waning moon was hanging overhead, barely giving any light though the branches.

Slowly the miko rose to her feet, and drew her bow from behind her backpack. Knocking an arrow silently, she balanced her feet and got ready to fire.

            Something fell to the ground behind her. She squeaked in fright, and whipped around, pointing her arrow at it. It was another branch. There was another snap from above her, and at once Kagome looked strait into the canopy. At first she could make nothing out. She looked up into the darkness, making her way to the trunks of one of the trees. A sudden dart of shadow hit the corner of her eye, and she turned her head quickly.

Nothing.

Kagome inhaled, and leaned against the tree, still looking up. There again, another shadow, darting between the moonlight. Her head jerked to the side again, looking up. Something was definitely up there. Kagome's eyes narrowed, and she turned around. She slung the bow across her back, and clenched the arrow in her teeth. With that she leapt up, and caught the lowest branch, and began to laboriously haul herself up onto it. Slowly, she made her way up the tree. By the time she broke the canopy, she was sweating hard.

            Slowly, she pulled herself up to a thick branch, and planted her feet firmly in its center. Darting her eyes back and forth constantly, she leaned up against the trunk of the tree, and knocked her arrow again. The snapping sound came again, this time from around the other side of the tree. It was very, very close. She swallowed nervously, and drew the bow even tighter, adjusting her feet on the branch carefully.

            The snap came again, and she turned, sighting quickly down the shaft of the arrow. However, it was no enemy up in the trees.

            The half light of the near-full moon was filtering down through the trees, illuminating the smooth, masculine features of InuYasha in an eerie blue-gray light. He was standing stark still on a branch, the Tetsusaiga grasped in one hand lightly. The skin of his upper torso seemed to be deathly pale in the dim light, and his hakama was a deep, rust red. His hair was turned from lustrous silver, to cold, hard steel. His back was to her, and the Tetsusaiga was raised in an odd position above his head, one hand out to the side, claws flexing rhythmically. Slowly he turned, lending a profile of his face. His eyes were a burning, amber liquid, focusing on her.

            Kagome gasped, and stumbled back against the trunk of the tree, the bow and arrows falling below her through the branches. Why wasn't he saying anything? He was just staring at her with that burning gaze.

            She swallowed nervously, and lent her voice up. "Sorry…" She stuttered. "I thought that maybe… Y'know."

            InuYasha's burning gaze slowly receded, and he slung the Tetsusaiga over his shoulder. "Feh." He said, leaping casually to the branch that she was standing on. "I told you that I could handle it, wench." He said.

            Kagome nodded, and slowly sat down on the branch looking up at the hanyou. "You're really worried about these hunters, aren't you." She said.

            InuYasha shrugged, and made a few practice swings with the Tetsusaiga. "Just wanna be ready." He said. "I'm no match for them at this point."

            Kagome blinked, and clutched her legs towards her. She was suddenly very cold, and very tired. A shiver ran through her uncontrollably. "You were practicing?" She asked, looking down at his feet.

            InuYasha shrugged. "You should be sleeping." He admonished.

            Kagome didn't say anything, but she nodded slowly.

            "Come on, stupid." He said patiently, planting the Tetsusaiga in the trunk of the tree right above her. He slowly leaned down, and gathered up the tired Miko into his strong arms.

            Kagome inhaled sharply, feeling the heat of InuYasha's skin on her own. The hanyou easily stepped off the branch, and landed smoothly on the hard earth. Kagome looked up at InuYasha's strong jaw, and blushed lightly. InuYasha smiled at her as he laid her down, propping her up against her backpack. "Now," He said, as she yawned, "Get some sleep."   
            With that, he disappeared back up into the canopy with a single leap.

            Kagome, however, could not get any sleep. The feeling of InuYasha's skin was burning into her, and she looked up into the trees, seeing the shadow of InuYasha darting through the branches.


	21. Wisdom and Age

            Gah! Sorry for the extra short chapter this time. It was actually part of a longer chapter, but in honor of visiting Washington D.C. over Memorial Day weekend, and finals being next week, I took some time to study, instead of write. As it is, this is only, like, two and a half pages. I'll hopefully be able to get the second half up on Sunday or Monday, but I wanted to get this up before I left on my trip, because my computers acting weird and deleting stuff, and I don't wanna lose it.

            Anywho, just a little characterization for this chapter, so enjoy it.

SMACK!

            The slap reverberated through the forest.

            Sango was distinctly, undeniably, back to normal, Miroku reflected as he rubbed the side of his hurting face. Quickly, he composed himself, and resumed the quick walking pace next to Kirara. It wasn't his fault, of course. He was walking, and Sango was riding on the great Fire-cat. This put her exceptionally tempting posterior at near eye-level. How exactly was Miroku supposed to not go after such an opportunity? Obviously, from Sango's put-out expression, he was required to do it somehow.

            Slowly, his eyes traced over to Kohaku, who was walking just a little behind him. He seemed like an almost completely normal boy. At the current moment, he was smiling lightly, and shaking his head, no doubt in response to the monk's brave actions. He very definitely didn't seem like one who had just been reunited with his sister only a month before.

            "Kohaku…" Sango's voice shot off, breaking the group's silence. "What happened to you after the battle with Morkleb?"

            Kohaku glanced at his sister, and smiled lightly. He had an odd smile. It was a fond, warm expression that gave the impression that there was nothing he'd rather be doing that being with you. "Well," He said. "Morkleb hit me with some sort of magic, and I blacked out instantly." He said with a shrug. "When I came to, I was with Atma. She got me back on my feet, and then Vadise took me off her hands." And that was all he said.

            "Just that simple?" Sango asked.

            "Atma didn't make you fight any mirrors, did she?" Miroku inquired.

            Kohaku gave him an odd look. "Mirrors?" He asked in his laughing tenor.

            The monk smiled at the boy. "Forget I said anything." He said. And made a mental note to ask Atma to heal him, instead of Vadise, should he even need it again. "So, tell me. Did Atma tell you anything about what's going on right now?"

            Kohaku blinked at the monk. "I dunno." He said. "When she handed me over to Vadise, she seemed fairly annoyed, but she didn't tell me anything. Do you think that there is something going on?"

            Putting his hand to his chin, Miroku closed his eyes. "Well," The monk said reasonably. "It seems to me that some hostilities must be going on in the dragon world. Vadise did ask us to give a message of safety to a sea serpent. One could only imagine that this is either a dragon, or the sea serpent Syldra. Either way, it would seem that there is something afoot."

            "Hai." Sango agreed from Kirara's back. "But I'm tired of all this business of dragons. I want to hurry up and get back to the good old life." She said.

            "Fighting Naraku, and looking for the sacred jewel is the good life?" Shippo asked. He had piped up for the first time this trip. Miroku had completely forgotten that the little kitsune was sitting on his head.

            "But Sango…" Miroku said, glancing at Kohaku. "You have your brother back. You could detach yourself from our quest now. You have no reason to continue."

            Sango blinked, as if the thought hadn't even crossed her mind. "Someone has to keep your hands away from Kagome-chan." She said primly. "And I don't think that you want InuYasha to do it." She said.

            Miroku shrugged, and smiled lightly. Well, that was one care off his shoulders. It was good to know that Sango was going to be staying with them. Now, they only had to worry about how they were getting back home.

            "So, how long is it until we reach Shinjuku?" Miroku asked. They had been traveling fast on Kirara all morning, and all the previous day, so Miroku couldn't even begin to imagine that it would be too much longer.

            Kohaku thought for only a moment. "Not to much longer." He said happily.   
            Miroku nodded, satisfied with that. Hopefully, it wouldn't take too long.

            Before Sesshoumaru became aware of anything, he was under control. He was always under constant control. Any slips were inexcusable. He locked his mind away from his body, filtering the inner instincts through a level of cool, calm, and observation. Then, and only then did he let himself begin to feel.

He was in pain. A decent amount of it as well. Undoubtedly the after effects of the snake's venom. He could feel the fire running through the veins in his arm, and the muscles contract, then slacken, then contract again.

His nose started working first. He could smell the familiar, clean scent of his room, but only barely. There had been many bodies crammed into it, but only just recently. He could smell the dirty stench of humans, and the refined, mystical smell of dragons. And he could also smell something else… something he would recognize anywhere.

As his ears started to work as well, they confirmed his suspicions. He could hear a tiny heart beat, and little breaths run in and out of a little body. It was undoubtedly Rin.

And slowly, his amber eyes opened. They were met with the large, chocolaty brown eyes of a little girl. He blinked, and slowly sat up, taking a quick sweep over his surroundings.

He was sitting in his bed, in the middle of his room. Sesshoumaru's room was furnished with merely a desk, a heavy set, oak chair, and his bed. There was a mirror on one of the walls, but Sesshoumaru never used it. He didn't need to. His ornate haori was pulled off on his right side, exposing his good arm. The arm was wrapped tightly with bandages, and looked much healthier than it should have. Sesshoumaru strongly thought that the dragons had something to do with that.

"Sesshoumaru-Sama." Rin said. "You're awake."

Sesshoumaru nodded curtly, and slowly slid his feet off the bed, pulling his haori all the way on.

"Sesshoumaru-Sama." Rin said, concerned. "You shouldn't be up yet! You were wounded."

"It was merely a snake bite." Sesshoumaru said dismissively. "I am fine."

"You didn't look fine when I got you here!" Rin said, suddenly aggressive.

Sesshoumaru blinked, and looked sharply at Rin. Had the girl just raised her voice at him?

As if realizing her mistake, Rin instantly straitened her back, and faced strictly forward. "Sorry, milord." She said quickly.

Sesshoumaru blinked at Rin, and slowly got out of bed. "You brought me back?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes milord." Rin said submissively. "The pirate carried you, but I showed him where to go."

Sesshoumaru nodded. "And Atma is here as well, is she not?"

"Yes, Milord. There is Tiamet, and dragon that I do not know here as well. It was the third dragon who rid you of most of the poison. I wrapped your arm."

"What of the bodies of the two women?" He asked. "Where they still there when you left with me?"

Rin nodded. "They were waking up when I got there. The purple haired one almost got me." She said.

Sesshoumaru slowly walked across the room to his boa, which was lying across his desk. He picked it up, instantly noticing that it was much lighter than it should have been. "And what did you do?" He asked, inspecting the end of it. The iron chunk was gone.

Rin must have noticed his inquiry at the boa, for she pointed over at the foot of the bed. "I remembered that you weighted you're boa, and so I hit her with the rock." She admitted, almost sheepishly.

Sesshoumaru turned to look at her, fastening the boa just under his limp left sleeve, and walked forward to her, stooping down just in front of her. He took the stone form her hands, and gave her a look of approval. "You are older than you look." He remarked.

Rin nodded.

"And you are wiser than you're age." He commented, slipping the stone back into the secret pocket of his boa. With that, he rose, and walked towards the large, hardwood door. "Come." He instructed.

Rin smiled, and nodded. "Yes, my lord." She said faithfully, following the tai-youkai.


	22. Rage

Woot! I'm back after a long little pause. But I come bearing great news! I'm done with school, and work doesn't start for another month! My playstation is being borrowed by my friend, and I've beaten all the games for my computer, and most of my friends are still in school! I have absolutely NOTHING TO DO BUT WRITE! That means faster updates, and more plot moving along!

Anywho, for a few quick comments, here are one or two: Time's mortal enemy! Hey, hey! I know what you mean about Kohaku. I've been trying to make him in character, but I'm finding it really hard. I can't have him be like his is in the actual anime, because I've had his Memories completely and utterly destroyed, and he's not getting them back to the point where it'll be like it actually happened to him in his mind. Now, in retrospect, I really wish I hadn't done this in my first fic, because I also really like Kohaku in the anime, but I did, so unfortunately I have to work with it.

As far as his maturity, I also agree with you on that point. I want to make him a little mature for his age, but I don't wanna make him too mature. I did in fact make him a little too grown up and a little too cheerful in that chapter. Sigh!

Anywho, thanks for you're thoughts on that. He'll be in the next chapter as well, so I'll try to make his personality more realistic. Thanks a bunch.

Anywho, this ain't my best chapter, I don't' think, but it isn't my worst either. I'm just getting over some finals inspired writer's block, so tell me what ya think

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"They have history do they?" Morgan asked in an impressed tone of voice.

"You could say that." Tiamet said with a frank nod.

The two were standing in the doorway to a small, polished dining room, probably made for servants. Shortly after the little girl had brought them to Sesshoumaru's mansion, he had decided he was hungry. Unfortunately, this Atma and Kiriln had decided to come with him.

The tension in the kitchen was so very thick that if you even tried to cut it with a knife, the knife would get stuck.

Atma was standing against a kitchen counter, her tail lashing casually. He seemed to be inspecting an apple.

Kiriln, on the other hand, was sitting peacefully at the central table, hands clasped neatly in front of her, a small, quirky smile played across her lips.

Tiamet was standing next to Morgan at the doorway, munching happily on a large pear.

"Not to pleasant when they're together." Morgan noted.

Tiamet nodded. Occasionally, her head bounced from one contender to the next. Morgan got the distinct impression that some Olympic level sport was going on, and he was missing it.

Slowly, Atma raised the apple to her mouth, and took a firm bite, her fine jaw chewing meticulously. Her eyes stayed fixed on the blue haired dragon across from her.

Kiriln smiled back, sweetly.

Slowly, the firm sounds of stepping echoing from behind Morgan and Tiamet broke the tension. Morgan turned, and backed narrowly out of the way as Rin dashed into the room, and sprung up on the table.

"I win." She declared happily, holding both arms up in the air.

This action very effectively broke the gaze of the two sparring dragons, and very quickly, they both turned their heads towards the door.

The deliberate, firm steps slowly made their way closer through the hallway, and slowly Sesshoumaru stepped into the light.

Kiriln grinned, and turned to Atma. "He's already up." She commented. "Quite impressive."

Atma's mouth thinned, and she didn't respond. Slowly, she turned to Sesshoumaru and crossed her arms. "I think that you now see how very vital it is that we deal with Menomaru now. Already, his generals made a full attack on you, in your own city."

Sesshoumaru nodded slowly, brushing past Tiamet and Morgan, and sat down at the table, in between Kiriln and Atma. "Rin." He said deliberately. "Get down."

"Yes my lord." The little girl said smartly, and scrabbled swiftly off of the table, landing beside Sesshoumaru.

Sesshoumaru made a quick motion to the two behind him, and Tiamet nodded. She quickly moved to take a seat, and Morgan, sensing the sudden seriousness of the situation, followed suit, and sat next to her. The tai-youkai took a deep breath, clearing his head, and began to speak in a slow, paced tone. "I was over-emotional in out previous meeting." He admitted, getting a satisfied grin from Atma. "However, the current Tactics are unacceptable." Atma's grin vanished. Sesshoumaru glanced over to the Pirate and the Sea Dragon. "Who are these two?" He demanded.

Morgan smiled a seaman's grin. "Captain Morgan, Pirate extraordinaire." His smile widened. "I have no idea what's going on, but I have the distinct feeling that things will be unpleasant for me if I decline any of your whims."

"And I would be Kiriln." Said the blue haired woman. "I'm a rebel dragon."

"I see." Sesshoumaru said smoothly. "And are you aware of the given situation?"

"I am indeed." Kiriln beamed back at him.

"However, she is not to take part in them." Atma interrupted, giving the blue haired dragon a death glare. "She detached herself from the dragon race, and is therefore not a part of its affairs."

Kiriln raised one blue eyebrow, and one side of her mouth turned up in a smirk. "Are you so formal, Milady?" She asked. "Well, then, mayhap I am not welcome."

Sesshoumaru raised a hand, signaling for them to stay. "You have a vessel?" He asked Morgan.

Morgan nodded. "I've got a ship." He affirmed.

Sesshoumaru nodded. "Then you will stay." He said firmly, not even bother to notice Atma's displeased expression. "If necessary, you will help with defending the coastline."

Atma's eyes narrowed, and she crossed her arms, clearly displeased.

"Now," Sesshoumaru said. "What is the current situation?"

Atma nodded curtly to Tiamet, and the little red haired dragon stood up proudly.

"Alright." She said, putting on an outrageous military accent. "For those of you not briefed with the current military circumstances, allow me to review!" She glared at the pirate captain, who had to good grace to look ashamed. "Our enemy is the Chinese youkai known as Menomaru."

Morgan nodded. "Menomaru. Got it."

"He has a large cult following in China, which we need to keep from getting to Japan at all costs." She raised an eyebrow at Kiriln and Morgan. "That means sea combat people."

"So, I've just been drafted, have I?" Morgan asked. "How do you know you can trust me?"

"Because you cannot afford not to be trusted." Sesshoumaru said simply. The threat was evident in his voice.

Morgan raised an eyebrow, and nodded. "Good enough." He admitted.

"Can I continue?" Tiamet asked, blinked primly. "Yes, well, in addition to having an army in china at his disposal, Menomaru also has a great deal of youkai sealed in Japan as well, near his base of operations. However, the only allies he has at the moment are these two generals Oni and Shin."

Morgan blinked. "Didn't they just get toasted?" he asked.

Tiamet smiled, holding a finger up. "Unfortunately, they're immortal. As soon as they are killed, they get revived almost immediately."

Morgan nodded. "Well, that's useful." He noted.

"As of now, Menomaru is limited to thee tactics. He can gather power by stealing the souls of the living for one."

"How very… satanic." Morgan observed.

"We already know that he is doing this slowly. In addition, the youkai from China will be making their way here. This needs to be stopped."

"And the last tactic?" Kiriln asked.

"Well, you see, Menomaru is a very odd youkai. His entire family has a special… ability in which the younger member of the family inherits the power of the older. Like father to son. However, before he can do this, he needs to break the seal on his father's remains."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Morgan interrupted. "Who's this guy's father, and why is he sealed."

Tiamet sighed, and rubbed the back of her head. "Okay, history lesson. Long story short: Menomaru's dad, Hyoga, invaded almost one hundred and twenty five years earlier. Sesshoumaru's father, InuTaisho, fended off the attack, and killed Hyoga. Then, to keep Menomaru from getting to his father's power, InuTaisho sealed Hyoga's remains, and a large part of his army as well. Now, Menomaru is going to try to undo the seal to try to get that sealed army, as well as get his father's power."

Morgan nodded. "That's… very weird." He remarked. "So, how does he undo this seal?"

"He needs an enchanted sword known as the Tetsusaiga to break the seal."

"And where would he get this Tetsusaiga?"

Tiamet smiled. "Well, that's something we don't have to worry about." She said. "Tetsusaiga is in a very safe place."

Atma drew a quick breath. "No, it's not." She said.

"It's not?" Tiamet asked, suddenly confused.

Atma shook her head. "InuYasha has the Tetsusaiga." She said. "Something weird with time travel, apparently."

"InuYasha has the Tetsusaiga?" Tiamet gasped. "I thought Vadise had the Tetsusaiga!"

"Who's Vadise?" Morgan asked, blinking. "And who's InuYasha?"

Tiamet, however, seemed not to hear the pirate at all. "How the hell could this happen?" She demanded, glaring at Atma. "This is not good! This changes everything!"

Atma snorted. "Tell me about it." She muttered.

Sesshoumaru nodded slowly, and leaned down to Rin. He whispered something into her ear, and she nodded. Like a flash, the little girl disappeared down the hall. The blue haired dragon on the other end of the table was the only one who noticed this. Her lips perked ever so slightly in that sly smile she had.

"Then what are our options?" The tai-youkai asked, resuming back into the conversation.

Both the dragons sighed, and sat back down into their seats. "Well…" Tiamet began. "We should get someone to find InuYasha, and get the Tetsusaiga."

"Who's InuYasha?" Morgan demanded again.

"An acquaintance." Atma said irritably, dismissing the pirate. "We will also need some to stay and hold of the forces from China."

"How large will this army be?" Sesshoumaru asked, speaking calmly.

"Titanic." Tiamet said miserably. "I went to China a few years ago, and Menomaru has some sort of cult following there."

"Then we will need larger forces as well." Sesshoumaru said sagely. "There is no fully trained army at Shinjuku."

Atma sighed, rubbing her temples. "Well then raise one." She said. "Go get youkai from the mainland, or something."

Sesshoumaru nodded, and tapped one claw on the table. "Then what of this?" He proposed. "I am familiar with InuYasha, and have bested him several times before. I will go to Japan, find InuYasha, and bring the Tetsusaiga back here. An army will be trained here, while others go out to recruit. Syldra can rally some sea youkai together, and hold off the forces from China. As such, we will have a military in reserve in case they get past our defenses, or if the youkai sealed here are also revived."

Tiamet blinked, and nodded. "Well, that's some fast thinking for ya." She admitted. "I can't see anything wrong with it."

"Umm…" Morgan voiced. "How, exactly, do I figure into all of this?"

"Assume your vessel is good enough, you will be taking me to Japan." Sesshoumaru said simply.

Kiriln nodded approvingly at him. "A sound strategy." She said. "I have to say that I wasn't too fond of Hyoga, so I guess I'll help you out with his stupid son. What do you want me doing?"

"In all likely-hood, we will need support for those guarding the sea." He said. "Do you handle water well?"

Kiriln almost laughed. "I… don't mind water, no." She said, here eyes narrowing in amusement.

"Good." Sesshoumaru said dismissively.

There was a heavy thud, and all eyes turned towards Atma. Her fist had pounded down on the table, and one look at her angry face told everyone that she didn't care for the plan… at all. "I believe you are leaving out important details." She hissed.

"Such as?" Sesshoumaru asked, unperturbed.

Silently, the gazes at the table shifted back and forth from the youkai to the dragon.

"Ryuukotsutsei." Atma rumbled. "He was Hyoga's true power base, so obviously Menomaru is going to go after a way to unseal him."

Sesshoumaru leveled his gaze with her, and the slightest smile crossed across his lips. "Well, then." He dismissed the complaint. "I will leave that to you to take care of."

Stop.

Everything in the room just stopped.

Tiamet was frozen in place, simply staring at him, her jaw hanging open, her eyes widened in horror.

Kiriln had her eyes closed, her smile widening.

Morgan looked very nervous.

Atma's dark, cloudy eyes were widened, and her face caught up in a sheet of fury.

Time always slows down just before disaster strikes. And then it flashes like lightning past.

Kiriln started laughing, clutching at her sides. Tiamet finished dropping her jaw, and jumped away from the furious dragon next to her. Morgan, having a keen sense of the impending doom, hid behind his chair.

With a sudden, feral growl, Atma rose from her seat, and clenched her right fist at her side. The table crumbled. The chairs crumbled. And the stone underneath her feet chattered.

"How dare you?" Atma stormed, her hair whipping up around her head, her lips curling up in a snarl.   
"You forget your place, Lord Sesshoumaru." She raged. "You are a mere youkai. You have no business commanding me."

Sesshoumaru's chair, however, didn't crumble. He merely sat, staring evenly at the dragon. "I am a _tai youkai_." He corrected. "And my business is what I will it to be."

"You're business is what _I _will it to be!" Atma hissed. "Are you completely blind? That's why we allowed you youkai to live here on _our _island!" She leaned down so that her face was just a few inches from his. "You are just a subtle way for us to control youkai. So was you're father. So was your grandfather!" She whirled away from him. "You will run this war how I want it to be run." Malice dripped from her voice.

Sesshoumaru closed his eyes, and his smiled be came even more subtle. "I believe Rin has already informed you on the status of the dragon race." He stated, opening his amber eyes, and leveling them at her. Atma suddenly found herself having trouble meeting his stern, strong, confident gaze. It was like staring against the sun. "You're _dragon race _is a pathetic, crumbling hierarchy consisting of you, and two others who's loyalty is fading."

This time is was Atma's jaw that dropped. Her eyes widened, her eyebrows arching up in shock. Slowly her shocked face twisted into a snarl of rage, and her fists formed into claws at her side. Lightning flowed up and down her arms, up her flared wings, and crackled between her claws. The shadows of the room slowly began to twist, and contort, wreathing around her, and masking her in night. The barest outline of her face could be seen through the darkness, her pearly white fangs glistening through her snarling lips. "How _dare _you?" She shrieked, her voice no longer showing any resemblance to being human. It flashed off of the walls, and echoed through the room like the voice of an angry deity.

"Shinjuku is no longer a city ruled by the dragons." The tai youkai stated, still sitting peacefully in his chair. "This place is mine, and I will defend it how I see fit, and with whom I see fit." He slowly rose out of his seat, and began towards the door. "Shinjuku _was _your city. Now, it is mine." And with that, he disappeared out of the door.

Atma was left, shuddering with rage in the room, splinters of shattered stone and wood all around her.

Very slowly, and with a great deal of cursing in several different languages, Morgan extracted himself from a corner of the room, feeling a cut on his brow where a chip of stone had struck him. He was glad he wore such thick clothes.

Tiamet was leaning against the wall, staring at Atma with a look mixing fear and amazement.

Kiriln was still smiling softly, sitting in her chair. She chuckled softly, and shook her head. "Well, well, Atma." She said standing up. "His father might have raised him, but he certainly takes after his mother." She fixed her a very pointed stare, and strode out of the room.

Morgan took the hint, and very quickly followed her. But not before slipping a few gold plated forks lying stray around the room into his vest.

Finally, Tiamet unpinned herself from the wall, and took a step towards Atma, not sure what the Ancient Wyrm would do.

Slowly, Atma unclenched her fists, letting an almost defeated breath emerge from her lips. She sat down, the shards of stone and wood molding into a smooth chair underneath her. Her shoulders slumped beneath her armor, and she leaned forward, resting her arms on her knees.

Tiamet very slowly, began inching out of the room, and, as she disappeared into the hall, she could have sworn she saw a tear run down Atma's nose.


	23. Instinct and Determination

Woot, another chapter in just three days. And one I happen to be fairly proud of. More Atma and Kiriln fighting. I'm really enjoying them. Anywho, just a quick comment: Thanks to all those who have been reviewing lately. (All three of you.)

Special thanks to Time's Mortal Enemy, who constantly keeps me going. Hehe, sorry I lied. No kohaku in this chapter, but I'll get him in. I also got a really great plan to make up for the mistake I mentioned last chapter, so I'll hopefully be able to give him the personality I want him to have, and give him good reason to have that personality. Anywho, enough of my random ravings. Here ya go!

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The patter of bare feet on hard stone was the only sound Rin gave off as she moved through the streets of Shinjuku. The streets had once again returned to normal, now that Aaron had gotten bored, and gone off to observe other amusements.

It was, however, for that very blond haired crazy man that Rin was searching. She dashed around the allies, through gutters, behind buildings, and down streets that few others even knew existed. It wasn't long at all before she came to Aaron's ally. It was marked off by a great many hanging quilts blocking it off from the rest of the street. Rin made short work darting between those barriers.

Aaron was sitting on the large clump of clothing that made his bed, facing her. He did not, however, actually focus on her. His eyes were crossed right on his nose. Balanced on his nose were some chopsticks. Rin sighed, and shook her head. She had seen Aaron try to balance chopsticks on his nose before. He was very good at it. She had seen him go for a week before.

Before Rin could even speak, Aaron held up a hand for silence. Rin could see the sweat running down his brow. He had probably been in this state all morning. She could see his mouth slowly start moving in odd patterns, counting out loud to himself. "Six thousand eighty seven. Six thousand eighty eight. Six thousand eight nine." He said, concentrating hard.

Rin smiled lightly, and giggled, amusement flashing across her girlish features. "Two hundred forty two." She said happily.

Aaron's eyes widened, and he glared at Rin. "Six thousand ninety." He said, slightly more nervously.

There was no way Rin could resist. "Five million and three seconds."

Aaron's eyes narrowed. "Six thousand ninety one. Six thousand ninety two."

"Square root of eight point three two one plus eighteen seventeenths."

"Ummm…" Aaron said intelligently. "Six thousand… and…" He glared at Rin angrily, and crossed his arms. "One, two, three, four, five…"

Rin laughed again, and ran up to him, taking the chopsticks off his nose. "Sesshoumaru-Sama wants to see you." She said, happily, jabbing him in the side with the chopsticks.

Aaron sighed, and stood up. He was currently wearing a long white open haori, which flowed all the way down to his knees, and a black hakama, tied with the traditional piece of rope. "And what does the mighty lord Sesshoumaru want with me, now?" He asked.

Rin shrugged. "I dunno." She said, holding two palms skyward. "He was having a meeting with a bunch of dragons and a pirate, last time I looked."

"Hmph." Aaron snorted. "Probably something to do with all this Menomaru crap going on." He sighed, and took a few gangly steps towards the mouth of the ally. "Well, you wanna go with me to see what he wants?" The blond man asked.

Rin shrugged. "Sure." She said. "I'll race you."

Aaron smiled arrogantly. "Oh really?" He asked. "I don't' think that you can even hope to beat me."

Rin smiled, and before Aaron could even blink, she was past him, the sounds of her footsteps disappearing behind down the long streets.

Aaron blinked, then crossed his arms. "That was a very unfair head start." He remarked. And then was gone as well, tearing after the little girl.

--------------------

Claws slid idly across solid alabaster walls, as Atma slowly wandered through the corridors of Sesshoumaru's mansion. Her lips were tight, and her shoulders drooped. The tips of her wings trailed on the ground.

Where had she gone wrong? What had happened? How could this have happened? __

She paused in front of a window, and glared out at the city.

It was true… All true…

The dragon race was falling apart. It was three dragons. Only three, and two of those weren't even very loyal.

Tiamet. Atma snorted. Tiamet only stayed with them because she hadn't yet thought to do anything else. And Gelledius wasn't really with them either. He simply stuck around because he felt like it. In fact, there wasn't even a _them_. There was just a _her_.

But _why_? Why was everything falling apart on _her._ Atma had tried. She had tried so hard. When Vadise had been in control, then the dragons were revered. There were at least twenty of them at that point. And all the dragons were completely loyal to Vadise. They followed her orders. Revered her.

But then Atma had shown up. And Vadise had left. Left without giving the young dragon any coaching. Left without giving Atma any instructions at all. Just, "Okay, Atma dear! You're in command now! Don't screw everything up!"

But then things started falling apart. Almost immediately, three dragons left, abandoning the clan. Others never really bothered to carry out her orders, and others treated her like a kid. Only a few actually treated her with any respect. And most of those were gone. Now all she had were Tiamet, and Gelledius.

How had it happened…

With a sigh, Atma continued down the hall, brooding in her own thoughts. Where had all the old days gone? Before she had come, the dragons had been a mighty race. A clan able to make anything possible. But within only a few hundred years of her reign, the clan was on the verge of destruction. How the hell?

How on earth?

She slowly wandered into a large sitting room, and folded herself into a heavy chair with a high back. She bent over, and rested her arms on her knees, staring intently at the floor.

"It was inevitable, you know." A feminine voice from behind the chair said.

"Shut up, Kiriln." Atma muttered, clasping her hands together. "I don't wanna hear it."

"Of coarse not." Kiriln said, leaning against the back of the big chair, looking down at Atma. "You never want to hear anything."

"I said shut up." Atma growled again, her eyes narrowing.

"You couldn't have stopped it even if you knew it was coming."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Atma growled, standing from her seat, and walking towards a large window glaring light into the room.

Kiriln shrugged, and sat down in the chair. "The clan is finished, Atma. It has been since Vadise left. Some of us just saw it sooner than the others."

Atma whirled around, and glared at her contemptuously, a dark shadow against the bright sky. "So that's it then?" She demanded, fists clenching. "The clan's finished, so you just leave?" She spat on the ground. "You make me sick. The second something becomes hard, you just bale out." Her face flushed red. "Do know how hard I've worked to keep us alive? Do you have any idea how hard my job is? Trying to keep us together, when everything in the world is trying to tear us apart?"

Kiriln smiled lightly at her. "Atma, you just don't get it, do you?" She asked. "It's over. The clan doesn't exist anymore. You've got two dragons, both of whom stay more out of friendship than loyalty. And you don't even know how to command them properly. Face it, you're the youngest dragon. You don't know enough to be a leader yet. You only have command because Vadise gave it too you."

"The instinct-" Atma insisted.

"The instinct doesn't work!" Kiriln interrupted. "It's this little voice from who knows where in the back of our heads. Listening to it is ludicrous." She stalked up to Atma, and stared strait into her eyes. "You wanna know why nobody gave you any respect when you became the Ancient Wyrm?" She asked. "It's because you never became the Ancient Wyrm."

Atma's eyes widened in shock, and her jaw went slack. The redness in her face faded. But Kiriln pressed on mercilessly.

"When Vadise stepped down, and handed power over to you when you showed up, we were all confused as all heck. Our instinct was still telling us that Vadise was out leader, but she consistently maintained that it was you. The only reason we accepted you at all was because we figured that Vadise had something up her sleeve." She laughed. "But no, I think that Vadise figured out how bogus the instinct was faster than anyone else. She just got out faster than the rest of us."

Atma's look had changed from one of anger to one of horror.

Kiriln smiled lightly. "Yeah, you understand now, don't you." She scoffed. "We dragons were never meant to live in a clan. We're supposed to live on our own, and only come together when it suits us." She crossed her arms, and grinned at Atma. "It's not a bad existence, Atma. You should try it voluntarily, because sooner or later that's how you're going to end up."

Atma looked up at Kiriln, beginning to breathe hard. She shook her head, not quite believing. There was no way. All her work, all her life, just a waste of time? All her cause spent fighting off an inevitable fate?

A low feral growl started deep within her throat, and she rose to her full height, and flared out her wings. She crossed her arms, and glared at Kiriln with a wild look in her eyes. "Whether by instinct or anything else, I am the leader of the dragon clan." She hissed. She stalked past the sea dragon, hitting her aside with a leathery wing. "If it's doomed, then so be it. But until it falls, I'll fight." She disappeared down the hall she had come from.

Kiriln watched her go, then shook her head, returning to sit in the seat. "Okay, little Atma." She said softly. "Since you're so determined, I'll wish you luck."

--------------

Sesshoumaru sat patiently in a large, wide-backed chair, tapping one finger on the hard wood of one of the long, oaken arms.

"Come in Rin." He said before any sound could have reached his ears.

The heavy door to his official meeting room opened, and the little girl dashed in, light footed as ever. "I win!" She declared, running up to her lord.

Sesshoumaru regarded the capricious spirit carefully. "Where is Aaron."

"Oh, he should be here about…"

The lord of the west waited for a few moments. "About?" He prompted.

"Now." Rin said matter of factly.

There was a loud smash, and the sound of many pieces of glass breaking, and Aaron scrabbled through the door breathing hard.

"I win." Rin giggled at him, pointing.

"I noticed." Aaron commented gruffly, slowly regaining his composure. "How the hell you managed it, I don't know, but you did."

"I just ran." Rin said innocently, as if it was obvious. "But Sesshoumaru wants to see you now."

"Yeah, yeah." Aaron said with a wave of his hand. "What do ya want now?" He demanded.

Sesshoumaru wouldn't have taken such an insolent tone from anyone. Anyone except for the man in front of him. "Are you aware of what is happening in the world?" He asked.

Aaron nodded. "Menomaru kicking people's butts. Yep." He said. "What do you need me to do about it."

Sesshoumaru crossed his arms. "We are assembling and training a military force. If memory serves, you helped my father in his war against Hyoga."

"And you want me to train your little troops, eh?" Aaron asked, rubbing his nose. "Well, I can probably do that. It's been a while since I was in a good war." He shrugged, and pulled on the sides of his haori proudly. "Why not? I'll give it a try."

Sesshoumaru nodded. "Good." He said simply, and rose from his seat.

"What's the pay?" Aaron asked before Sesshoumaru could even take a step.

Sesshoumaru turned to face him. "You are allowed to live unmolested in Shinjuku, are you not?" He asked.

Aaron beamed at him. "Actually, I think that I'm allowing all these youkai to live in my city." He said happily. "Now what's my pay?"

Sesshoumaru gave him a stare that lasted longer than it had any right to. "This is _my _city Aaron." He said slowly. "Assuming we win the war, you shall have free service at any establishments serving alcoholic beverages in the city."

Aaron's grin widened. "Free beer?" He asked?

Sesshoumaru's eyes closed. "Free beer." He affirmed, still holding his monotone and with that word, he strode out of the hall, Rin dashing after him, flapping her arms frantically in a last ditch effort to fly.

Aaron crossed his arms, and smiled. Free beer was good, but getting it for righting a war. It was perfect. It had been a long time since Aaron had been in a war. Aaron always found he enjoyed war. But then again, that probably came from previous professions he had. After all, all war ever brought was death. And death wasn't that big of a deal. Whistling softly, he began to walk out of the hall.


	24. A City of Kinda Demons

            Gah! Still no Inu/Kag. Curses, this is taking a really long time! Oh well. I'm sure that I can man age to finish up with Everything in this chapter, and then move on to the Inu-Kagome goodness.

            Okay, sorry this took so long to get up, but I had some major work to do on the plot before I could continue. I've decided to do a few things differently, and am splicing together the plans I had for a sequel to this with this fic, because it actually works really well. As a result, this fic is going to end up being titanic, but it will also be the last one along this story line, unless I decide to do some back stories of my original characters. Some of the plot twists I decided on are going to start in the next chapter.

            Anywho, once again, comment to Time's Mortal Enemy: Yes, about chapter twenty one, I have to agree. I wasn't terribly happy with the way it turned out either. It seemed kinda rushed, and unemotive to me, but try as I might, I couldn't make it any better, despite many rewrites. Oh, well, one off chapter wont kill me. Anywho, thanks for all the nice comments on ch. 22. I liked that one too.

            Oh, and I now have found the song I absolutely want for Atma's theme. Unfortunately, I can't have it, because it's not mine. But I'll give it to ya anyway, because it's a really awesome song. Go here: click on the little download. It's a remix of the Hollow Bastion theme from Kingdom Hearts, only remixed. Oh, and it's a perfectly legal download, since the arranger put it on himself, so don't worry about file-sharing or anything like that.

            And lastly, I'm going to my grandma's in Texas tomorrow, so I'm not gonna be able to post for a while (Like, 2 weeks or so). Sorry, but I'll hopefully have a lot written in that time. Okay, that's it for all the announcements.  

            And now, on too the happy bits:

-------------------

            Sesshoumaru inspected the scroll carefully, looking over every part of it. He found it almost amusing every time he had to do this. Sesshoumaru was a powerful tai-youkai. He could rend solid stone with his claws, and reign destruction down on anything he chose too. How fitting it was, that he was now a politician.

            He had stepped into his fathers shoes. He was the Lord of the Western Lands, as people now called him. When he was younger, he never would have thought that his father's role had been so very… political. There were powerful nobles to take into account. There were the tribes from Japan, whom banned together could make a powerful force. There were the humans, who seemed to have an uncanny ability to blunder into any plans and smash them. All these needed to be kept in check. Respected, yet never overly relied upon.

            His eyes carefully read all the words, considering their root meanings; they're construed meanings, and anything else that could be used against him. Finally, he was satisfied. It was a wonderfully sculpted document, the Tai youkai reflected as he looked over it. It was the declaration of war, of sorts. Messengers would take it to all his potential allies, asking for their assistance.

Of course, the wording gave no hint that Sesshoumaru actually needed any help, but simply made it obvious that this was an opportunity for _them _to demonstrate a service to the mighty lord Sesshoumaru, who might be courteous and feel generous towards them in the future. It was almost perfectly termed. Ever so slightly threatening. Flattering, of course. It held just enough lie and just enough truth. Just enough promise of a reward to tempt, yet not enough promise to give anyone any grand ideas.

What amused Sesshoumaru even more than the fact that he _was _a politician, was the fact that he was extremely good at it. And beyond that, the fact that he thoroughly enjoyed it.

It was just like a giant game. A big lying contest. He who told the best lie always won. Sesshoumaru _always _won.

With the light smile of a deception well played, he touched a single claw to the scroll, and quickly burnt his sigil into the paper with the acidic poison that flowed so easily. And so it was done, and Sesshoumaru silently rose from his desk in his room.

"Finished, milord?" Rin asked cheerfully, standing next to the door.

Sesshoumaru nodded, and quickly made his way to the door. "Come, Rin."

"Hai!" Rin said happily following him down the hall.

------------

The messengers were waiting out in front of the mansion, standing tall and erect. Respect and fear seemed to make many stand that way in the presence of the lord of the western lands. Sesshoumaru strode forward, and his heavy boa swaying regally, Rin standing formally in a nice kimono behind him.

            They were tall, sturdy winged youkai. Swift, intelligent, and eloquent. Perfect messengers, so to speak. Deliberately, the tai-youkai handed each a scroll, and stepped back. "Take these out to all the tribes and clans of the main lands." Sesshoumaru instructed regally. "Do not bother to get a response. Merely give the message, and move on. Understood?"

            "Hai." The youkai chorused in unison. And with a sudden burst of feathers, they were airborne, taking off into the sky. They quickly disappeared over the buildings, sailing forward on their mission.

            Satisfied, Sesshoumaru turned again, looking at Rin. "Is the pirate doing as instructed?" He asked.

            "He is preparing his ship to sail as we speak, milord." Rin said happily, watching the youkai fly away.

            "Excellent." Sesshoumaru said, with the confident sense of everything falling into place. Already, this new dragon, Kiriln, was beginning to help plan a defense against the armies from China. Now only two things needed to be done. InuYasha had to be found, and the Tetsusaiga retrieved, and Menomaru destroyed. Everything was going well so far. "Come, let us inspect this vessel."

            "Umm, Milord." Rin broached, "There is one other matter."

            "Yes?" Sesshoumaru demanded.

            "Apparently, only a few hours ago, a group was spotted heading for the city walls. You were busy going over your documents, so I didn't interrupt, but you might want to look into it."

            Sesshoumaru nodded. "Where were they headed, and what is the group comprised of?" The tai-youkai had no doubt that Rin would have all the information he would need. She was very good at collecting information.

            "Three humans, one kitsune, and one fire cat." Rin said, counting out on her little fingers.

            "Thank you Rin. Perhaps we will see about this. They are coming from the eastern entrance?"

            "Yes, milord." Rin affirmed. "Shall I lead you?"

            "No need." Sesshoumaru said briefly. "Go on ahead to the harbor, and ensure that the Pirate makes no attempts to escape."

            "Yes, milord." Rin snapped with a quick nod, instantly ran down the street that led to the harbor, and the Tai-Youkai headed towards the eastern entrance to Shinjuku.

-----------------

            Sango, Miroku, and Shippo all looked up in wonder. The gate was _huge_! At least fifty feet tall. And made of pure, white marble.

            "It's so big!" Shippo exclaimed, his green eyes wide.

            "I have to say, I am also… quite impressed." Miroku mused, rubbing his chin with his good hand.

            "How could they have built something like this?"

            "Atma told me that it was the Dragons who built this city for the youkai." Kohaku said softly, also staring up towards the top of the gate.

            All three nodded slowly, and finally returned their gaze to the marble path that lay before them. All they had to do was find this sea serpent, and give her the message, and then they could get out of here.

            Sango took a deep breath, and nodded forward. "Let's go." She said, taking a few deliberate steps into the city. Slowly, the entire group followed her, trying to look unobtrusive. Hopefully, the youkai here were not as hostile to humans as they were made out to be.

            Within a few steps of the hard, white streets of the city, it was quickly seen that this was not the case.    

            Sango stiffened as soon as she got inside the gate, looking around. There were youkai _everywhere_. But they weren't normal youkai either. They all looked relatively humanoid, and were dressed extravagantly. Jewels and pieces of silk, and ribbons. These must be youkai royalty, or something like that. Every instinct in her body was telling her to panic, and fight, and from the looks of Miroku, he was suffering the same.

            And it wasn't helping that they were getting stared at. Many eyes were fixed on them. It seemed that humans strolling through the gates were uncommon.

            The continued to walk, Sango getting tenser, and tenser. Just maybe they could manage to get…

            "Humans." One youkai hissed. Sango froze, and turned to him, very slowly. Now all eyes were fixed on her. The youkai was tall, and lanky. His long slender hands ended in sharp claws, and his eyes were thin and slitted. Long, almost metallic looking locks of hair fell down his back, and a thin, wiry tail lashed the ground behind him. "To whom do you belong?" He asked, licking his sharp teeth with a green tongue.

            Sango blinked, and thought quickly. They didn't know anyone here, so making something up was out of the question.

            "We are messengers." Miroku suddenly voiced, speaking up for her absence. All eyes shifted to him. "We come for a message unto a dragon."

            Sango blinked, and shrugged. Okay, the truth always works.

            The youkai sniffed, and inspected its claws. "I see." He said, not really looking like he cared. "However, there are five of you." He smiled menacingly. "Humans aren't allowed to be free in Shinjuku.  The kitsune and the fire cat can proceed; however, you may not go farther into the city."

            Sango's eyes narrowed and she tensed even more, but this time getting ready to strike if necessary. Kirara moved to stand behind her, glaring menacingly over her shoulder.

            "We were instructed to give the message to this dragon personally." Miroku stated calmly.

            "The kitsune can do it." The youkai persisted. "You are now in our city, and you must live by our laws. And our laws say any humans that are not claimed are up for grabs."

            Sango saw his leg muscles tense, and instantly, she prepared to make her move.

            The youkai launched itself into a full dash, heading strait for Miroku, while the monk jumped back, and held up his staff in defense. However, Sango intercepted the blow before it could fall.

            She locked hands with the youkai, and gave him a swift kick in the stomach, sending him falling to his back, five feet away.

            Slowly the youkai got to his feet, growling lightly. "Well, girl." He said. "You have some moves. Maybe I'll take you instead." Around him other youkai were beginning to close in, looking speculative.

            Sango dropped to a crouch, cracking her knuckles as she began to loosen her muscles. She was much better at fighting with her Hiraikotsu, however since that wasn't an option, bare fists would have to make due. Kohaku had his sickle, so that was an advantage to them, and Kirara could inflict some damage, but Miroku's wind tunnel was still nearly useless, and Shippo wasn't much of a fighter either.    

            However, that still left them outnumbered almost three to one, and more youkai were making their ways down the streets.

            Sango's eyes narrowed and she very suddenly went on the offensive, leaping forward in a roundhouse, expertly sending the first youkai into a group of several others, and quickly followed up by sending an elbow into the face of a nearby bearded youkai.

            A loud roar, and the clink of a chain from behind her, told her that Kohaku and Kirara were also hard at work.

            She leapt back, and swept a foot under a third youkai, then followed by pushing herself forward, and bringing her knee down on its neck with a sickening crack.

            A quick glance at Kohaku told her that somehow or another, her little brother had gotten over his fear of battle. Maybe Atma had had something to do with that. The young boy expertly swung his sickle, hitting it into the chest of a youkai, and retracted it just as quickly, catching it by the handle. Sango had seen him exercise that sort of precision in training, but never in battle before.

            She whipped around again, positioning herself in front of Miroku, holding her hands up expertly.

            The original youkai who had accosted them snapped to his feet again, growling. "I don't' think you understand, humans." He growled. "Here, you don't' have any rights. And don't even begin to think that you can walk away from us."

            Sango didn't say anything, but prepared to take anything he might throw at her.

            What she wasn't expecting, however, was a beam of light to such in from down a street, smacking him across the face, and knocking him to the ground. All eyes shifted down the source of the beam of light. Sango's eyes widened, and she paled visibly. Standing in the middle of the street, looking very regal, was Sesshoumaru. All the youkai seemed to react the same way Sango did, backing up from the humans several paces.

            Slowly, the regal youkai made his way down the street, walking slowly, his steps echoing ominously. His cool, amber eyes swept from the frozen party of humans, to the youkai. "What is going on here?" He asked. His voice was soft, but no one had trouble hearing him.

            The youkai who had just gotten the beam of light jammed into his face staggered to his feet, and pointed a long claw at the Sango. "These humans deny our laws, milord." He said in a subservient tone. "Is it not our way to claim free humans as our own?"

            Sango's eyes narrowed. InuYasha had mentioned something about slavery to them. Were humans slaves to the youkai here?

            "It is our way." Sesshoumaru stated, and then turned to regard the humans. "What is your business here?"

            Sango swallowed nervously. Sango had only met Sesshoumaru once before, the day InuYasha had learned to use the wind scar. But even of what she had seen, the tai-youkai was not one to play around with. "We are here to give a message to a dragon." She said, keeping her voice strong.

            Sesshoumaru cast his glance over their group, and then turned to the youkai surrounding them. "I will take these humans for now. If I find their reasons lacking, I will turn them back over to you." He said firmly.

            The leader of the group opened his mouth to object, but then thought better of it. "We cede to you're wisdom, milord." He said slowly, and with a light bow began to step backwards. "I will await your deliberation eagerly."

            With that, he turned, and began to walk away from the crowd. All the others of the group followed suit, quickly dispatching themselves from the intersection.

            Slowly, Sango backed up, standing near Miroku. She swallowed nervously, and remained very strictly on guard.

            Sesshoumaru cocked his head to one side at them, and narrowed his eyes. "To which dragon are you to give your message?" He asked, still speaking softly. His eyes were boring into hers.

            "A dragon who travels in the company of a pirate." Sango said clearly. "We were told they are in this city."

            Sesshoumaru nodded. "They are indeed." He said. "Who is the message from?" His eyes seemed to drill into the back of her head.

            "The dragon named Vadise." Sango said swiftly, he fists clenching at her sides.

            Sesshoumaru continued to stare at her, unwaveringly. "I see." He said, still giving no hint of emotion. "And you are the humans who journey with InuYasha, are you not?"

            "We are." Sango said, trying to break eye contact with the youkai, but finding that she couldn't.

            Finally, the tai youkai broke of his gaze with her, and inspected the few bodies on the ground. "According to our laws, the youkai of this city are allowed to seize any unclaimed humans as their personal slaves." He informed them, confirming Sango's suspicions. "Certain groups will be very unhappy with me if I do not turn you over to the public, particularly when people are dead." He glanced back up at her, and raised one eyebrow, seemed to be waiting for a response.

            Sango was speechless, literally. How was she supposed to answer that? It was one of those lose-lose questions. No right answer. Things were distinctly not looking good.

            "What is the message?" Sesshoumaru asked, slowly beginning to circle and inspect each member of the group.

            "We are to tell the dragon that she will be unharmed if she stays." Sango said, slowly beginning to protectively circle along with the tai-youkai. "And after that, Vadise gave us assurance that we would be able to travel back to mainland Japan with the pirate."

            Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed. "I see…" He said very slowly, and then straitened his shoulders. "I am leaving this city for a time at sundown today. This is also when the pirate is leaving. You have until that time to find this dragon, and be on the pirate's vessel. After that, you have no protection."

            Sango very slowly nodded, knowing that this was a lucky break. Much more than she had expected from the Tai-Youkai.

            With that, Sesshoumaru turned his back on them, and strode on down the streets, taking slow deliberate steps.

            Sango swallowed nervously, and turned around.

            Miroku gave her a fond nod of approval. "Very well played, Sango." He complimented her.

            "I hope so." The sighed back, looking down the different streets. There was one leading to the right, which Sesshoumaru had disappeared down, and one leading to the left. And finally, a grand central street, leading strait into the city. "Let's go this way." She said, pointing down the central street.

            Shippo popped up on Kirara's shoulder. "Why that way?" He asked, blinking.

            "It'll probably lead to the center of the city," Miroku stated logically. "From there, we should be able to get to where we want to go."

            Kohaku nodded reasonably. "Makes sense." He admitted. "Then, let's go."

            Slowly, the group made their way through hostile territory.

----------------------

            A little bit… Just a little…

            Morgan's face was scowled in effort, his jaw clamped tight, and his tanned lips pursed together. The odd position he was working in didn't help any, either. His feet were starting to cramp. He was hanging upside down over the side of his ship. It used to be called the '_Banana Trading Co. No. 7_' but some bastard had decided to turn it into the __

'_Ban   a T  adin  C .  o. 1_'

            He very carefully dipped the paint brush into the gold paint, and artfully remade the _a _and the _n _from _Banana_ and started in again on the _r _from _Trading_. Honestly, him! The great pirate captain Morgan, drafted into a weird long-haired pansy's army, and forced to ferry him to wherever he wanted to go.

            "Things could be worse, you know." Kiriln's happy voice rang our from above him.

            "Aye, and they could be much, much better too." Morgan muttered with an oath, painting on an _o_. "You know, if you hadn't snatched me up, and put me under you're little contract, I could be at the _Lusty Wench _right now, drinkin' a few good pints of grog?"

            Kiriln's nose wrinkled and she looked out at the sea. "Isn't the _Lusty Wench _that bar in England that has the waitresses with the low cut blouses and the short skirts."

            "Aye." Morgan said happily, and with a heave, hauled himself back up to his feet.   "An' if ya slip a few coins up one a those skirts, the blouses get much, much lower."

            Kiriln cast him a dangerous glare, and crossed her arms. "I don't think I approve of prostitution." She said primly.

            "Oh, neither do I." Morgan said quickly. "Neither do I. Way to expensive. Ye just have to get the lass drunk enough that she doesn't make you pay. It's not prostitution then, izzit?"

            Kiriln cast a long scowl at the Pirate, and the sighed. "What am I going to do with you?" She asked the heavens plaintively.

            "_I _know a few things I wouldn't mind you doing with me." Morgan said with a very dirty leer.

            Kiriln gave him a long level stare, and then pushed him, hard. Overbalanced, he fell backwards, arms wind milling wildly, into the cold water.

            With a heavy sputter, he crawled out of the water onto the white stone dock, dribbling heavily. "That wasn't very nice." He commented.

            "You're not a very nice person." Kiriln informed him from the ship, inspecting her hand critically. "Now, is this ship ready? Sesshoumaru's not someone you wanna keep waiting."

            "It's fine." Morgan said haughtily, wringing water from his thick black hair, and brushing out his albatross feather. "Plenty sea-worthy. I would trust this thing to float a hundred of these youkai-thingies."

            "Good." Kiriln breathed. "Now, let's just hope that it's good enough for Sesshoumaru."   
            "Well, I should hope so." Morgan said primly, "Because he ain't getting anything else."

------------------

            "If I was a Pirate, where would I be?" Sango mused to herself, casting glances back and forth from alabaster sided building to glistening marble spire. This city was incredible. Sango didn't even know such feats of architecture were possible. Every street was made out of white stone, and gracefully arching spires curved up at all intersections. It was amazing…

            Word must have somehow spread very quickly about them being under Sesshoumaru's protection, because they were left very obviously unmolested. Youkai seemed to get out of their way wherever they went, casting a wary eye on them.

            "I wonder why it is that Sesshoumaru has so much control here?" She mused, resting her hands on the back of her head as she walked.

            "It's because he's the one in charge." Kohaku explained, walking only just a little behind her. "A little while ago, there was a big revolt here." Both Miroku and Sango turned to look at him, and he looked down at his feet suddenly, blushing just a little. "Umm… Atma was telling me about it." He said, kicking his feet at he walked. "There were two, um, sides. One group of youkai thought they should invade the mainland, and enslave all the humans. But the other thought that that would case too many casualties, and wanted to just stay here. Sesshoumaru somehow managed to play off that, and assume control of the city."

            Miroku looked around, walking just a little to the left of Sango, and rubbed his chin with his good hand. The youkai were just glancing casually at them, not even seeming to want to bother them. "How long ago was this?" He asked. "Sesshoumaru's word seems almost completely unchallenged. He must have some amount of popularity if nobody is complaining about humans going free."

            "He hasn't been in office long." Kohaku said, glancing back at the street. "It was only about… a month and a half ago. Maybe a little less. From what I've heard, Sesshoumaru has so much authority because nobody can call him on it." He smiled wryly at Sango. "Did he look like someone you would cross?"

            Sango smiled fondly at her little brother. "You learned a whole lot, Kohaku." She commented. "Father would be proud."

            Kohaku's face very suddenly fell to his feet again, a blush starting on his face. "Oh, it was just something, I, uh, heard…" He began.

            Sango shook her head. "No, I mean in general. You're a lot wiser than you were when we were living together at our village." She patted him on the shoulder. "Like back there in that fight. You used to be terrified of a battle, but you handled that like a pro."

            "Oh, that…" Kohaku stuttered. "Well, uh… that was just something that Atma made sure I could do… She said that a Dragoon was useless if it… um… couldn't fight."

            Sango smiled. "Well, you learned well then." She smiled lightly at him.

            "Sango…" Miroku whispered, looking up ahead of them.

            Sango diverted her attention from her brother to the monk, and blinked. The monk was pointing ahead to what appeared to be some sort of park. It was a large square of just white stone. There were benches set up across the outside, and in the very middle was some sort of monument. It was the monument that Miroku was staring at.

            The demon slayer narrowed her eyes, and looked out at it, cocking her head. The Monument consisted of a little raised slab of stone, with earth and grass growing on it. On each of the four corners of the slab, there were large, blooming sakura trees, shading the entire thing. And in the middle of the little patch of grass was the statue of a man. Or rather, a Youkai.

            Sango blinked, and shook her head. The youkai was tall, standing regally and erect. He was carved with an ornate haori, and two large spiked shoulder guards. Two slender Katanas were propped gracefully in his outstretched hands, the hilts balanced together on his down turned palms, and the tips sticking into the ground. His face was noble and exotic, and his eyes rested intelligently just below large eyebrows. His hair was long, and artfully carved, looking more like strands of silk than of stone. It fell strait down his back, and parted on either side of his face in slender, silken locks. On the top of his head stood two, large, pointed, dog ears.

            "You don't suppose…"  Miroku started.

            "InuTaisho." Sango said, looking at the statue. "It must be." She smiled lightly. "He looks a lot like InuYasha."

            "Sure does!" Shippo agreed. "So, this is InuYasha's father? He sure looks noble."

            Sango smiled at the little kitsune. "InuTaisho was one of the most noble youkai ever to walk the planet. I can't really believe he's InuYasha's father."

            "I don't think there's any doubt." Miroku countered her, still looking at the statue. "InuYasha is immensely strong. He is, in fact, only a half demon, and yet is able to defeat almost all the full demons that have come across our path. He has some very strong blood running through his veins, even if he doesn't act like nobility."

            Sango shrugged. "I suppose so." She admitted. She cast a glance to the sky. "But it's getting late. We should find this pirate guy soon."

            "Well, a pirate would normally be near water, correct?" Miroku reasoned. "We should find anyplace connected to the ocean first."

            "Right." Sango nodded, and cast her gaze around the square. There were at least eight streets leading off the little park. They just had to pick one. "Let's try that one." She said, pointing forward to a random street. It had lots of youkai walking in and out of it, and the stones on the street looked considerably more worn than the other streets.

            The odd group made their way towards the street. As they began to walk down the street, Sango couldn't help but look around in wonder.

            There were youkai all around them. All breeds, too. Bird youkai, snake youkai, cat youkai, wolf youkai. But they weren't acting like… youkai. All along the streets there were little booths set up. Just to her right, a four armed insect youkai was trying to convince a werewolf of the benefits of buying the special jars that he sold. There was a snake youkai giving out fortunes just down the street on her left.

            "Fresh squid!" The call rang out. A large bear youkai was standing over on a street side. Next to him was a booth, on which a large amount of squid were piled. Behind the booth was a human, wearing a simple, plain kimono, and a plain, slim steel collar around her neck. She was in the process of exchanging one of the squid for some odd little beads to a bird youkai. "We got some nice sea bream too. Step right up! We catch em, we gut em!"

            "Heya! Come; have your fortune told by the great Vishia!" The snake youkai hissed to a passerby, "A mere five talens for the revelation of the future."

            Sango looked around in amazement. These youkai were actually running a bazaar! They had money (at least, she assumed that was what _talens_ were), and little shops. They weren't thirsting after blood or any actions that she had come to associate with youkai. She threw a glance towards Miroku and gave him an amazed look. He returned it, obviously just as shocked as he was.

            "Wow!" Shippo said excitedly. "This place is cool!"

            "Atma took me here once." Kohaku said. "You can get almost anything in the world here."

            Miroku's eyebrows shot up. "Anything?" He asked, a lecherous grin sliding across his face. He slowly ambled off, heading towards the snake fortune teller's carpet. She was almost human looking. She had long, elfin ears, and a slender, busty build. She was wrapped in exotic silks, and a long, curving, scaled tail was coiled twice around her a waist, and then more times around her shapely legs. Miroku sat down in front of her, imitating her intricate way of sitting. "I have no money." He offered, "However I am a monk. In exchange for my fortune, I can bless you with good luck."

            One of the snake youkai's eyes slitted open, and she looked at him. "A fair trade." She admitted. "Your name is Miroku, is it not?"

            Miroku was impressed. He hadn't expected the fortune teller to be real. "Indeed. I am impressed. Not many can perform divination with such precision."

            "That was not divination, Miroku. That was Sesshoumaru's announcement that the monk, Miroku, and the Demon slayer Sango, as well as the other human traveling with them are not to be taken as slaves until sundown today." She smiled ever so slightly. "However I do see, in your near future, a beautiful woman."

            Miroku smiled, and leaned forward. "I see a beautiful woman in front of me right now."

            "Ah, yes." The snake youkai hissed, her greenish hair swaying lightly above her golden eyes. "But the beautiful woman I forsee is not in front of you, but behind you."

            Miroku blinked and turned his head slightly. Then took a sharp breath. Sango was standing right behind him, her arms crossed, and her foot tapping on the ground impatiently.

            "Coincidentally, I also see a lot of pain in your immediate future."

            _Crunch._

            Miroku fell to the ground, a large bump already forming on his head.

            "Could you move him?" The snake youkai asked. "He's blocking customers."

            Sango gave her an apologetic look, and dragged the semi-conscious monk away from the carpet the snake youkai sat on.

            "You'll find the harbor down this street." The snake youkai said smoothly to her as the youkai slayer dragged the monk away.

            Sango looked up suddenly, gaping. Miroku hadn't actually told the youkai what they were looking for… how had she known?

            The fortune teller winked her one open eye, and pointed to her forehead. "Psychic." She said simply. And with that, turned to a paying customer, and began a fortune of long life and prosperity.

            Sango blinked, and nodded. "Kohaku, Shippo. C'mon, we're headed this way."

            Slowly, and painstakingly, the group made their way through the tidal crowds. Twice Sango was bumped heavily on the side, causing her to stumble (although the second time, the youkai had turned politely, and begged her pardon). Finally, they managed to burst out of the heavy crowd into another intersection.

            Two long streets headed left and right, to either side of them. Sango blinked, and turned around. "Which way do you think it is?" She asked Miroku.

            "It's that way." Shippo declared loudly, still sitting on Kirara's shoulder, pointing to the left. "I can hear all the waves."

            Sango shrugged, and started to lead the way. "Let's go."

-----------------

            Well, the ship seemed all in order. Rin paced patiently across the single deck, looking over every detail. Granted, she really didn't know much about ships, but everything looked spiffy. The sail was big and white, and… cloth-like. The wood was… well… wood. There was food and water in the single cabin under the little deck, so they wouldn't go hungry. She clambered off the ship, and strode up to the pirate and the dragon. She desperately hoped that the ship wasn't actually in horrible condition, because she wouldn't have known the difference. But the trick was to act confident. She was Sesshoumaru-Sama's servant, which gave her extreme status.

            "Well," She began. "It looks good." She gave the boat a critical look. "It's a little small, but it'll do."

            Morgan smiled. "Well, I'm glad it meets your standards." He said politely, if a little sarcastically. He probably knew that she had next to no knowledge of boats (in all likelihood clued off by her calling the mast a 'stick-thingy'), but didn't show any real inclination to expose her.

            "Now, we just need to wait until Sesshoumaru-Sama gets here, and then we can leave." She said happily. "He should be here shortly."

            "Very shortly." Kiriln remarked, looking down the street to the right. The tai-youkai himself was making his way down the street, heading directly for the boat.

            Rin quickly brushed of the front of her ornate kimono, and stood tall (about three foot eleven), smiling brightly. Hopefully, he would find the ship satisfactory as well. She smiled fondly, remembering the day before when he had said she was wise. That had almost made her pop in pride.

            The tai-youkai reached them, walking quickly but elegantly. "Greetings." He said softly, nodding his head ever so slightly to Kiriln.

            "The ship is ready to sail, Sesshoumaru-Sama." Rin announced, hoping she spoke the truth.

            With a quick glance, Sesshoumaru surveyed the ship, looking over every detail of it. He noticed that something was painted on it in gold on the side. No doubt the name of the ship. Probably something grandiose or overly violent, as was pirate tradition. "This will do." He stated, then cast his gaze around the three others of the group. "We will set sail in a few hours."

            Morgan nodded. "I don't suppose you happen to know the name of a good bar, do ya?" He asked. "Maybe I could go relax before we set off."

            Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow. "I will not have you sailing drunk." He said firmly.

            "Who say's it's me I'm getting drunk?" Morgan asked, with a lecherous grin. "Now all I need is a pretty girl to come with me…"

            He was interrupted by a smooth, pretty voice. "Excuse me?"

            He turned, and blinked as his eyes set down on the oddest party he had ever seen. It consisted of an odd man with black hair, and long, dark blue robes, a young boy dressed in a thin, flexible combat suit holding a sickle, a little red haired kid with a big poofy fox tail, and a large, tiger-cat thing with flaming paws and two tales. However, his gaze was quickly drawn to the speaker, who was at the lead of the party. She was a young woman, probably about eighteen or nineteen, and had shoulder length, messy hair. Her eyes seemed almost unnaturally dark, and her face was dirty, but pretty. She wore a torn, ripped one piece made of purple cloth. Morgan's eyes were involuntarily drawn to a gentle swell in that cloth about one foot below her nose, and one foot above her waist. The lecherous grin grew.

            "That'll work." He said happily.


	25. Messages

            Whoo! That was one long vacation. Now I have three weeks left until I leave home again. Anywho, just a few comments…

            I was surprised when I checked my E-mail, only to find about A JILLION reviews waiting for me.

            Kitten Kisses: Thank a bunch for all those nice words. I've worked really hard on this, and It's nice to have appreciation. And yes, both Inu and Aaron can be extreme dorks.

            Valese: Hey! You have a name sort of like Vadise? You aren't a dragon in disguise by any chance, are you? Hehe, thanks a bunch for the (Counts on fingers) eighty four reviews. I was happy to get those. Anywho, thanks a bunch for everything.

            Time's Mortal Enemy: Awww, poot! I knew someone would catch those little things, and I was expecting it to be you, too. I normally go through and edit all those, however I only finished that chapter within, like, an hour of when we left on the trip, and I had a lot of work to do, so I decided to skip the final editing phase, and just settled with a spell check. Don't worry, though. I'm back again, with plenty of time, so I'll be checking more carefully.

            Christielea54: 'Ban  a T adin  C .  o. 1' is 'Banana Trading Co. No. 1' With a bunch of letters missing. Some prankster went and scraped some letters off the ship. Sorry if I didn't make that clearer.

            And to everyone else: Snowecat, Jessica T It's Me, RobinOfYJ, Tanwen Whitefire, Rayame 325, and Gossa, Thanks for your continuing support. It's great encouragement!

            Oh, and the link I posted last chapter, I put up an MP3 link of a song I really liked. It was "Above the Rising Falls" and you can find it at It was a cool song, that I felt really went well with Atma's character, so listen to it if you want to. The site isn't that hard to navigate.

            Anywho, sorry, I decided to throw in another popular charcter to the mix, this chapter, so no Inu and Kag yet. But next chapter, definitely.

            Okay, enjoy.

---------------

A wolfs howl pierced through the violent roaring of the falls. Within seconds, it was answered by another howl, and then another. The message was traveling up and down the mountain ranges. The birds were attacking.

            Deep in a cave behind a raging waterfall, something stirred, leaping up from it's bead of soft straw, and down. "Get up you mutts!" A rugged tenor rang out in the darkness. "The damn birds are here!"

            Almost instantly the cave erupted in action, growls and howls coming from all directions.

            "Hikaku, get the rest of the pack ready!" The tenor voice rang out like a shot, the figure it belonged to dashing towards the mouth of the cave. "I'll hold 'em off until you get in position!"

            "Gotcha sir!" Yelled back a rough, raspy baritone. More and more figures were rising in the shadows of the cave.

            The figure with the husky tenor turned, and began running, picking up speed rapidly. He reached the mouth of the cave, took a running leap. The waterfall that covered the entrance to the cavern exploded outward in a geyser of steam and spray, and the figure flew into the air, trailing cyclones of mist after him. He landed on a rock in the middle of the lake the waterfall drained into, and braced himself.

            He was tall and lean, and stood with nobility. His hair was black and silky, tied back in a pony tail hanging to the middle of his back. His face was lean and noble, his eyes intelligent and shrewd. Elfin ears pointed up from the sides of his face. A long, flowing cape of wolf fur hung from his shoulders. He was clad all in furs, with light leather moccasins on his feet. A heavy, wolf fur sash was wrapped around his waist, and from under the sash was a long, wolf tail which twitched and tossed in anticipation.

            His intelligent eyes were scouring the sky, looking at the edges of the clouds.

            "Koga!" A voice rang out.

            The man turned quickly, zeroing in on the source of the voice.

            Another man was running at him, sprinting as fast as he could. "Koga, they're coming from the west!"

            The man, Koga, turned, and glared up at the sky, scouring every inch. "C'mon, ya bastards. Where are ya?" he muttered to himself.

            There, in the distance. A single black speck was in the sky, moving across it rapidly.

            The man who had yelled to him finally reached his side, panting heavily, his tongue lolling out of his mouth. He was short, and a large spiky Mohawk of silver hair came from his head. In one hand he had a bloody spear, and in the other a few brightly colored feathers. "I caught one trying to sneak into out territory, boss." He gasped. "Are the others getting ready?"

            Koga nodded, crossing his arms. The little speck was joined by several others, and they were getting larger. "Good job, Ginta." He murmured. "Get in the cave with the rest of the pack. Don't any of you come out until I lead them around for a little while. Get in place as soon as I'm gone."

            Ginta nodded, and then turned. With a single, mighty leap, he sailed through the air, and landed on the ledge of the cliff face right next to the waterfall. "Good luck, chief!" He called, and then disappeared behind the waterfall.

            Koga scoffed. Like he would need it. He could easily outrun these damn harpies. He leveled his gaze at the rapidly growing dots in the sky. They were quickly forming themselves into the formidable shape of the enemy: the Birds of Paradise.

            A howl from above the cliffs let him know that others of his pack had seen them too. All the scouts would be heading back to the den now. Koga smiled. If they were all at the den, non of them could get hurt. He wasn't about to lose any more of his pack to the damn buzzards. It was his responsibility as the leader of his pack. He was, after all, a wolf youkai. He wasn't about to let anything happen to _his _family.

            His eyes narrowed, and his lips turned up in a snarl of disgust as the distant shapes grew closer, and consolidated into distinct forms. They had large, grotesque, spherical bodies. It was almost as if someone had taken a giant balloon, and stuck feathers, wings, and sharp talons on it. Huge, toothy jaws split the bodies almost in half. And sticking out of the top of each of the grotesque orbs were the upper quarters of a blue, hairless, mouthless, humanoid.

            As they got closer and closer, the freakish beings emitted high pitched, shrieking calls.

            Koga's smirked arrogantly, and raised one finger up in an extremely rude gesture. The shriek became enraged, and the things dove even faster, flying like missiles towards a target. And more dots were still appearing in the sky.

            There were at least thirty now, and more constantly appearing. He stood, muscles relaxed, arms crossed, and fixed his gaze on the forerunner, daring it to attack. The brute was maybe fifty feet away from him now. Koga could feel the wind from the beast's wing beats.

            Thirty feet, and Koga's smile widened.

            Twenty, and the wolf youkai simply remained motionless.

            Ten.

            Five.

            Two.

            One.

Koga could feel the things breath on his forehead. He crouched suddenly, and ran. His feet barely touched the water, sending a titanic splash up where he had run.

            The harpy crashed into the rock full force, its teeth snapping like twigs before the sharp crag thrust into the back of his throat.

            The other birds screeched angrily, and flew at him.

            Koga laughed, and made another very rude gesture. "C'mon, ya buzzards! See if you can keep up with me!" He could now count at least fifty shapes in the sky, and more were still appearing. This was no tiny raid, like normal.

            He began running at an easy lope, dust kicking up in whirlwinds wherever he ran. It was easy to stay ahead of the mangy birds. Koga looked down at his muscular legs. As he ran, they glowed ever so slightly.  After all, he _did _have the sacred jewel working for him. Three shards of it, anyway. He grinned, and sped up, flashing across the rough terrain in a flash, leaving miniature tornados wherever he went.

            Stopping occasionally to mock the dumb birds, he began to lead them in a giant circle, jumping over boulders, dashing through trees, hundreds of angry screeches raging after him. This was almost too easy. His pack would undoubtedly be in place by now, so it was time to be heading back.

            He slammed his heel into the hard earth, bringing him to an almost instant stop. He felt the invigorating rush of the winds he had created rushing past him, struggling to rip him of his feet.

            The birds, however, didn't manage to stop as fast. They rushed past him, cawing out their rage.

            Koga laughed at them, and spat. "Stupid buzzards don't even know how to stop!" He declared, and instantly began to run again, this time in the opposite direction, back towards the den.

            The birds turned, and began to follow him again, letting out shrieks of angry rage.

            Another wild goose chase later, Koga broke through the rocky outcroppings that surrounded his packs cliffs. His eyes narrowed, and he looked left, then right again. He saw absolutely no wolves.

            Granted, he wasn't supposed to see any wolves. That was the point. But they didn't normally hide this well.

            Well, nothing to do but to trust them. He kept on running, and dashed to the rock (and the bird impaled on it) across the lake, creating a huge splash.

            He positioned himself carefully on the dead bird, arms crossed and cocky smirk plastered across his face, tapping one foot. The birds appeared from above the tree line, screeching their fury. Koga tensed ever so slightly, getting ready to bolt in case everyone wasn't in place. Maybe they hadn't gotten ready in time. He would have to make sure to thrash them for that, but first things first.

            The birds were getting closer. Their teeth were very big. And sharp. Koga had seen one of those things rip one of his wolves in half. Still, he didn't let the smile fall off his face. Oh, they had better be in position, or else…

            He could feel the wind rushing from the birds' wings, and smell the stench of their breath.

            He slowly began to crouch, preparing for a long dash, should things go wonky.

            The leader of the group was almost on him, screeching madly. Koga's eyes narrowed, and he tensed even more. They would be expecting him to run, but they didn't know which way…

            They began to spread out, surrounding him. Exactly what was supposed to happen. But there were so _many_. It looked like there were hundreds. This was a full scale attack. The birds hadn't attacked like this since the two clans had first started fighting.

            Koga clenched his fists, and reached his right hand down into the wolf skin sash. He brought it out again, only this time it held his friend.

It was a simple, fingerless glove. But in-between each knuckle was a long, wicked looking, barbed claw. He clenched his fists, and drew even more power from the jewel shards. His attack would signal to everyone else the time to spring the trap.

Now he just had to hope that everyone was ready to spring the trap. If not, he was screwed.

One of the braver birds decided that it had had enough waiting, and darted in, slashing out with its huge claws.

Koga let out an echoing howl, and leapt. He planted his left foot into the bird's forehead, right between its eyes. He heard a satisfying crack, but slashed savagely down with the steel claws, just to make sure the job was finished.

Just as he was jumping back, the air erupted in angry shrieks and wolf howls. Koga grinned. The pack practically exploded from every available hiding spot, leaping out of bushed, charging out of rocky crevices, jumping out through the falls.

Caws of pain racked through the air as spears, claws and fangs raked into the birds. Koga let out a triumphal laugh, and launched himself into the fray slashing and kicking. Leaping from bird to bird, never really touching the ground, Koga lashed out everywhere with the claws on his right hand. "C'mon, you bastards!" He shouted out to the wolves below him, wrapping one arm around one of the blue figures, and jamming his claws into it's skull. "Push 'em back!"

            If they could repel this attack, then that would put them at a great advantage over the birds. This must be their largest force, and without that, they would be defenseless.  Quick strike on their lair, and he could finally wipe them out for good. It would be good to be in peaceful times again.

            Gracefully, he launched off the bird, flipping through the air, and sliced the wing off another one of the mangy buzzards as he came down.

            Spears were flying into the sky all around him, and the massive bulks of the birds were falling into the lake, still.

            Koga landed smoothly near the water, and pulled back for just a moment, catching his breath. The battle was going in their favor, so far.

            "Hey, Koga!" An urgent voice rang out from his side. Koga turned his head. It was Ginta.

            "Koga!" The wolf cried, fending off one of the birds with a long sickle. "One of 'em got Hikaku! It's getting away."

            Koga's eyes flared. "Shit!" He swore, looking up the cliff face. There, up towards the top. One of the birds was carrying off a flailing shape. He turned to Ginta. "You stay here, I'll go after Hikaku."

            With that, he took a smooth leap, and began jumping from ledge to ledge on the cliff face, gaining on the bird.

            The thing was bigger than most of them, and looked nasty. And sure enough, Hikaku was dangling from its claws, his bulky frame unmistakable.

            Koga reached the top of the cliff almost at the same time that the bird did, whipping around, and growling fiercely. "Put him down." He threatened, his tone low and promising spilled blood.

            The bird seemed to look at him through huge, evil looking eyes. There were two blue figures attached to the thing. It looked like some freak genetic birth gone wrong. "Do you really think you are a match for me, wolf?" The thing screeched.

            Koga scowled. The thing could talk. Not many of them could do that. Koga grinned arrogantly. "I'm more than a match for you, ya oversized bird snot." He yelled.

            "Boss, forget about me!" Hikaku yelled from the claws, squirming desperately. "Help the rest of the pack."

            The giant bird shook the wolf youkai like a rag doll. "Foolish pup!" It screeched. "You have no hope!"

            Koga's eyes narrowed, and he looked just a little past the bird. There was another shape shooting through the air like an arrow, heading strait for them. Surely not another bird. He returned his attention to the hulking beast in front of him. The thing was big, and probably had a thick skull. Koga would have to hit it _really _hard to bring it down.

            "I'll eat you whole!" The bird declared, suddenly rushing forward, mouth gaping. "Then kill your entire pack."   

            Koga spat on the ground, and rushed forward to meet the bird, thrusting his claws forward. "No way, bastard!"

            Before Koga's claw even touched the thing, there was a slicing sound, and the bird suddenly fell around Koga, literally. One half fell on one side, the other half fell on the other side.

            Koga blinked, then gave a grunt of disgust, leaping out of the mess of feathers and blood. What the hell had happened?

            "Hikaku, where are you?" Koga demanded.

            "Right here chief." A voice called out from underneath the feathery bulk of the bird. Hikaku slowly struggled out from underneath the mass. "That was some hit boss." He said. Hikaku was a bulky wolf with dressed all in furs with close cropped black hair. He rubbed the back of his head, and coughed. "You must of really put some punch into that one."

            Koga scowled, and sniffed. "It wasn't me." He muttered. There was something odd in the air.

            "Then what the hell was it, Boss?"

            Koga turned around, looking around. "Smells like another bird." He muttered, crossing his arms. "Come on out!" He yelled.

            "As you wish, lord Koga." A light, sonorous voice rang out. There was a flash in front of him, and suddenly a figure was standing in front of him, in a sort of mock bow.

            She _was _a bird, sort of. She was brightly colored, and had wings, but other than that, it looked pretty much human. She was dressed in a brightly colored synched Kimono, with slits cut in the back for the wings. In one of her hands was a long, slim blade.

            "Who the hell are you?" Koga demanded, holding his claws at the ready.

            "A mere messenger." The bird youkai said placidly, her voice lilting and elegant. "However, before we talk, shouldn't you tend to the battle at hand?"

            Koga glared at her, then turned back to the cliff. It sounded like the battle was still raging down there. He spat, and turned to Hikaku. "Make sure she doesn't go anywhere." He instructed. "And if she tries anything, kill her." He instructed.

            Hikaku nodded, glaring at the woman suspiciously. "Will do, boss." He said.

            Koga nodded, and vaulted over the cliff wall, joining the battle below.

----------------

            Oni and Shin sat across from each other over the sheared off stump of a tree. Shin had her arms crossed, and Oni was grinning at her. Oni _liked _gambling. So far, she had won Shin's swords, her earrings, and her breastplate. She sighed, and looked casually at one of her poor adversary's earrings, and cast it down on the stump. 

Shin inspected the earring, the sighed, and pulled off one of her bracers. "This time, _I _toss." She said in Chinese. Oni shrugged, and handed Shin the ancient Chinese coins.   
            "Your loss…" Oni muttered, then smiled. "Odds."

Shin tossed the coins, and inspected them carefully. Seven heads, three tails.

Oni let out a triumphal laugh, and picked up the bracer.

Shin crossed her arms, and gave Oni a suspicious look. Then she carefully examined all the coins. There was nothing wrong with any of them.

            "Fine." She said finally, and pulled off her other bracer. "Winner take all." She declared.

            "Deal." Oni said in an offhand manner.

            A very sudden rush of wind blew at both their hair, and both amazons looked around confusedly. Breezes were almost nonexistent in Menomaru's forest, much less strong gales.

            "So…" A sultry whisper echoed from above them, speaking Japanese. "…This is what Menomaru's servants do in their spare time."

            Oni and Shin's heads whipped up simultaneously, staring up at the canopy. Nothing there.

Another sudden rush of wind, and this time, the voice came from right behind them. "I can only assume that you _are _Menomaru's servants, after all."

Oni and Shin both leapt in unison, landing on the opposite side of the stump, facing the intruder.

She was a small, trim woman, dressed in an ornate red and white kimono. Her facial features were hidden behind a large battle fan, save the crown of her raven hair, tied up in a tight bun, and a blood red eye.

            "Who are you?" Shin asked, reaching to grab for her swords, only to remember that she didn't, technically, own them any more. Oni, however, already had her spear out.

            "You may call me Kagura…" The woman said. Her voice was soft and airy, fading and rising again like the wind.

            "Oh, really." Shin murmured. "And what would you have to do with Menomaru-Sama?"

            Kagura smiled. "I am a simple messenger." She breathed. "I have a proposal for your master."

            "And what makes you think that our master needs anybody's help?"

            "Because you are facing a powerful opponent, whether you know it yet, or not."

            Shin snorted. "The Taisho clan is no match for us." She said derisively.

            "Oh really?" Kagura whispered, her one showing eyes narrowing in amusement. "That little spat you had with him in Shinjuku suggests otherwise."

            Shin took a sharp breath, and her eyes narrowed. "So, you are spying on us?" She demanded.

            "My master likes to know his potential allies." She said with a shrug.

            "A wise master, indeed." The sonorous voice of Menomaru rang out from among the trees. Instantly, Oni and Shin were down on one knee, bowing low. A pair of glowing eyes emanated from the darkness between two trees. There was the faintest shadow of a flowing white cape, and silky hair. "I am Menomaru. Now, I would hear of this proposal."

            Kagura nodded, and lowered her fan, revealing a smooth, round face. "I am an emissary from the youkai known as Naraku." She said slowly. "You are fighting a battle against the Taisho clan, are you not?"

            "I am…"

            "Naraku has long wanted to be rid of the hanyou, InuYasha, however…" She paused just a moment. "Somehow, he always proves to be more trouble than he is worth."

            "And you wish to help me, in exchange for the extermination of Taisho's youngest son."

            Kagura nodded. "As an initial goodwill offering, Lord Naraku offers you my services."

            "And what, pray tell, is special about you?" Menomaru asked, amused.

            "I am a wind sorceress," She murmured. "As well as a skilled necromancer. Mayhap you might be able to use me?"

            There was a low chuckle. "I might…" He said slowly. "And will I ever meet this Naraku?"

            "Surely, milord." Kagura murmured, her voice subservient. "I can arrange a meeting soon, should you like."      

            There was a gleam of fangs in the darkness, and the whirl of a cape. "Excellent." He said simply, and was gone.

            Kagura smiled triumphantly, and lifted her fan once again to her face. "Excellent, indeed." She murmured. She snapped the fan shut, and was gone again, in a gust of wind.

-----------------

            "How many did we lose?" Koga demanded, surveying the battlefield. There were bird carcasses littering the waters and the surrounding rocks. He didn't see many wolf bodies, though. That was a blessing at least. But the birds would take days to clean up. Their meat wasn't any good, so they just had to dump the bodies much further down the river. The fish would take care of it after that.

            "Only five, chief." A wolf growled, licking at a wound on his arm.

            Five wasn't terrible.

            No! Five _was _terrible… anything more than none was terrible. But five wasn't as many as they had had in the past.

            "Who?"

            "Yakul, Toba, Mokuba, Shiro, and Teral." The wolf reported.

            Koga scowled, and picked up a handful of feathers off of the ground. He had just eaten with those wolves last night. Joking, and laughing side by side. Now they were gone. Not gonna laugh, or eat, or joke again.

            "Get the bodies." He growled. "We'll bury them near the den."

            "Right, sir." The wolf said, and quickly dashed off.

            Koga snarled to himself, and stalked off towards the den. Five dead. How many left did they have now? Maybe one hundred? He sighed, and spat. War sucked. They kept on killing birds, and the birds kept on coming. There was just no end to it.

            "Boss?" Hikaku's voice rang out from his right.

            Koga looked over, a scowl on his face. "What?" He demanded roughly.

            "Remember, we got this bird chick here." He muttered, gesturing to the odd bird youkai leaning against the rock face. A great many wolves had surrounded her, and were growling savagely. A bird was a bird after all.

            Koga rolled his eyes. That was the _last _thing he wanted to deal with right now. "Alright." He snarled, wading through the sea of wolves. "What do you want." He crossed his arms. "Better be good, otherwise you might just become lunch."

            The bird youkai pulled away a stray strand of hair from her face, and smiled. "I assure you that this is worth your time, Prince Koga."

            Koga raised an eyebrow. "Prince?" He demanded.

            "Well, you _do _rule the largest wolf pack in these parts…" She murmured. "That gives you some amount of prestige."

            Koga spat. "I _lead _this pack. I don't rule it. Cut the flattery. What do you want?"

            The youkai shrugged. "I have a message from my lord Sesshoumaru, Lord of the Western Lands."

            Koga didn't show his surprise. Sesshoumaru? He had heard that name before… A youkai of unparalleled power. And he had also heard of his title. This was no paltry messenger. "Yes?" He demanded, just enough impatience in his voice to get her to hurry.

            She smiled at him. "My offer will sound odd, given your current situation, however I ask you to consider it anyway." She paused just a moment, then began. "You see, there is an invading army of youkai coming from China."

            Koga narrowed his eyes. He could see where this was going. "We got a war of our own to fight." He growled. "I got no time to help with someone else's."

            The messenger nodded. "I see…" She said, the leveled a threatening gaze at him. "I'm sure that Sesshoumaru will be very… displeased at your refusal."

            Koga shrugged. "Sesshoumaru's fighting a war. He doesn't have time to be displeased."

            The messenger scowled. Obviously, she wasn't expecting someone as sharp as Koga. "Very well." She said finally. "I am able to offer you certain advantages. Perhaps if you help us fight our war, we might be able to get rid of your war altogether."

            Koga wasn't taken in for a second. Sesshoumaru would be making promises like that left and right. No chance he would make good on all of them.

            "No thanks." He muttered. "We've got our own problems to deal with." He turned around. "You got five minutes to make yourself scarce. After that, you're fair game."

            The messenger looked distinctly displeased. "Very well." She said at last. "I wish you luck on your own little struggle here." A few wing beats took her high into the air. "Should you change your mind, then simply head towards the east coast. We will find you there."

            Koga scoffed, and walked on towards the broken bodies lying through the clearing. "Whatever."

            The messenger sighed, and pulled out a scroll from her kimono. "Simply present this to any member of Sesshoumaru's army to be taken to Shinjuku." She tossed the scroll down, then rose even higher. "Good luck, Koga. I think you'll need it."

            Once of the wolves, grabbed the scroll, and it quickly disappeared into the wolves den.

            Koga cast a glance at the rapidly disappearing dot on the horizon. That was just all he needed right now. He sighed, and cleared his mind. They had bodies to get rid of. He could think of wars and allies later.


	26. Memories

Okay, this is finally an Inu/Kag chapter. I'm particularly proud of this one, but I'll let you judge. And just so you know, Sesshoumaru _is _supposed to be out of character in the flash back. So don't yell at me for it (not that I think any of you would).

And also, just because I needed another character, and I got some inspiration, I'm throwing in Ayame the wolf girl into the mix. However, I've never seen anything of her in the show, so I'm judging everything about her off the pictures that I've seen of her. So if I royally mess up the character, I'm sorry, but I'm just gonna stick with it.

Thanks christeilea54, storm maker, Ozymandius Jones, and Tanwen-Whitefire for the reviews.

And just so you know, I know that it's spelt messages. Really, I do. Honest. I did not go back and change it once you told me. Honest. Hides

---------------------------

Damn, she smelled good.

InuYasha walked slowly, drinking in the aroma. She was walking just a few feet ahead of him, her hands resting on the back of her head as she walked. He really wished that she didn't bother to cover up her wonderful smell with all that 'Sham-pooh' and 'de-oderant' stuff. It just got in the way.

She _looked _good to. Well, she always looked good, InuYasha had to admit. There was really no point in denying it. Her green skirt thingy was always nice, and that long sleeved shirt wasn't bad either. But he really liked what she was wearing _now_.

Her shirt was just plain blue, and fell loosely around her lithe frame. The sleeves were short, exposing her slim arms, and the bottom of it fell loosely just below her waist, occasionally exposing a tantalizing bit of midriff. And that thing that she called 'shorts' was nice too. Her normal skirt came all the way down to her knees, and sort of poofed out a little. But'shorts' were even better. They were just slightly loose around her legs and made of a clingy material, and they ended almost at mid thigh. Her legs were nice and smooth…

"InuYasha…" Kagome half yelled into his ear, snapping him out of his reverie.

He looked up. She had a look of impatience on her smooth face.

"Well?" she demanded.

_Crap! Crap! Crap! _She had asked him a question. What should he say? Dammit, he had been staring at her legs too. No way she hadn't caught that. Thinking very carefully, InuYasha prepared to respond.

He had been intending to say, very politely, "Sorry, could you repeat that?"

It came out as: "Umm…"

A look of annoyance crossed Kagome's face. She sighed, and shook her head. "I asked, how far away from the coast are we?"

Blinking, InuYasha quickly looked around. Crap! He maybe knew vaguely where they were. Why did the girl have to be distracting? He shrugged. "I dunno." He said gruffly. "We're within a day, so let's just go until we get there."

Apparently, he answered right, because Kagome nodded, and turned around, walking again.

InuYasha resumed his plodding pace behind her. It was nice not to have to run for a day. Hell, it was nice to not have to hurry. Sango and Miroku would be fine on their own for a little while, provided someone protect Miroku _from _Sango. They could afford to take their time, and besides InuYasha was sore. He probably _couldn't _run anymore. Not with Kagome and her Backpack on his back, anyway.

It was only a few more steps until InuYasha found his gaze settling down on the small of Kagome's back again. That 'T-shirt' was really nice looking. It didn't make any of her curvatures overly obvious, but rather betrayed them with subtle little folds and swells.

She stiffened just a little, and that told him that she knew he was staring at her. He wondered how on earth she did that. But it definitely meant he needed a new focus of study.

He quickened his pace ever so slightly, and was soon even with her. He couldn't really help but notice the slight blush that peppered her cheeks. But he needed to get his mind off her.

Idly, his right hand strayed down to the Tetsusaiga and led it slowly out of its sheath. The ragged leather of the bound hilt felt comfortable in his hands. He lazily let the light weight carry his arm down, and slowly began remembering some of the tips that Lled had pointed out.

_Keep your weight distributed at all times…_

Almost instinctively, he began to walk more fluidly, shifting his weight to the balls of his feet. He stopped swaggering, instead keeping his body as still as possible. Automatically, his breath stilled, and the Tetsusaiga elevated just slightly, the tip hovering at almost the height of his head.

Kagome was staring at him, but trying not to be obvious about it. InuYasha figured there wasn't that much of a reason to keep the training too secret now. She would be safer if she knew how seriously to take the bounty hunters, anyway.

Silently, he did a few basic thrusts, still walking steadily. Kagome was still watching him intently. There was a cross between fascination and admiration in her eyes. The hanyou's basic, braggart nature suddenly told him to do something, and there was no way he could resist.

"Watch this…" He declared, the cocky tone evident in his voice.

With a sudden burst of speed, he launched himself at a nearby tree. The poot plant very suddenly had four branches ripped of it, and into the air by InuYasha's dull sword. Smoothly, the hanyou leapt back down, and put the Tetsusaiga over his shoulder, grinning.

Kagome blinked, and clapped. "Wow, InuYasha." She said happily. "I'm impressed. You got really fast."

InuYasha held up a finger for her to wait, and looked up into the sky. The four branches were falling rapidly towards the earth. The hanyou grinned, and flailed out with the Tetsusaiga again, the blade flashing through the noon sun. The poor branches hit the ground in eight different chunks.

"Pretty cool, eh?"

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Showoff." She muttered, and kept walking. "C'mon. We can camp on the beach when we get there."

InuYasha sighed, and sheathed his sword. She didn't seem to buy it. Oh well.

Quickly he caught up with the Miko, and resumed his easy pace, making sure to keep his weight balanced.

"Say, InuYasha…" Kagome asked just a little while later. "Once we find the others, what are we gonna do?"

InuYasha blinked, and thought about that. "Well, I guess we'll pick up where we left off," He said at last. "We haven't gotten Naraku yet, and I'm not about to just let him get away."

Kagome smiled wryly, and looked down at the ground. "You really hate him, don't you."

InuYasha 'feh'ed, and crossed his arms, forgetting to walk with balance. "Hell yeah." He muttered, his voice slightly murderous. "Think off all the hell that he's put us through. Miroku's curse, Sango's family…" He paused just a moment. "Kikyo…"

He didn't even half to look at her to see the little catch in her breath that accompanied the name. They walked just a little longer in silence, then Kagome looked up again, and smiled. "You've changed, InuYasha." She remarked.

"Oh, really?"   
Kagome nodded. "When I first met you, all you would have wanted to do was go after the Shikon Jewel. You wouldn't have even bothered to go find Miroku and Sango."

InuYasha narrowed his eyes. She was right of course. He had been a pretty grubby bastard in the past. But he wasn't about to let her know he knew that.

"Feh. I don't care about those two. I just want Shippo back, cause now I can punch him without you sitting me." Nice recovery.

Kagome perked an eyebrow at him. "Oh really? And you haven't called me wench at all lately."

"Well, that's just cause you haven't done anything particularly wenchy lately."

"Wenchy isn't a word, InuYasha."

"Yes it is. I just said it."

Kagome stared at the hanyou for just a few moments, then gave up. "Fine." She muttered, and resumed her brisk pace.

InuYasha shook his head, and continued walking himself. It was almost half an hour before either of them spoke again.

"Say, InuYasha, your dad used to be the Overlord of the Western Lands, right?"

InuYasha nodded. "Right." He said. "It's some sort of position of authority. In my dad's time, it was like being a king."

"So, now Sesshoumaru has that title?"

"Yeah, but I somehow doubt it's as powerful as it was."

They walked just a little farther.

"What was your family like?" Kagome asked, "You know, before your dad died?"

InuYasha tensed ever so slightly, slowing his pace. He hadn't thought about that it a long time. He could only barely remember.

Kagome slowed down with him. She must have noticed his tensing, because her gaze lowed again to the hard pack dirt of the path. "Sorry, I shouldn't have pried. Bad memories?"

InuYasha shook his head. "Good memories, actually." He said. "I just don't think about them much."

Kagome smiled. "Well, then tell me. C'mon."

InuYasha gazed at her for just a moment. Oh, what the hell! What harm could it do , anyway? It wasn't like she didn't already know enough about him, anyway. Besides, Kagome was easy enough to talk too.

"Well, see, I didn't get to see my dad that much, cause I was born in the middle of a war."

Kagome blinked. "War?" She asked, "I didn't know that any major wars were fought in this time period."

"It was a war between some youkai from China, and my father's armies. I really didn't get to see much of him."

"What was he like?"

"My old man?" InuYasha mused, staring at the sky. A chuckled very softly. "Like I said, I didn't see him that much, cause of the war. But whenever he did show up, he always spent some time with me and mom. He was always teaching me cool stuff." InuYasha grinned. "He would sneak up on me, and start tickling me. Wouldn't stop until I did something to fight back. I gave a few good scratches a couple times, but he always seemed happy when I did."

Kagome smiled at him. "You're ticklish?"

InuYasha glanced at her, then frowned when he realized _how _she was smiling. It was her evil smile. "Aw, hell no." he muttered.

Kagome darted in like a falcon, her hands spreading, going for his sides. InuYasha tried to dodge, but somehow Kagome managed to get to his sides first, her hands clamping down on his sides, and her fingers starting to poke and prod.

InuYasha let out a noise that was halfway between a girlish squeal and a pigs oink, and fell to the ground twitching helplessly.

Kagome's smile widened, and she went down with him, her swift hands quickly finding the sensitive bits right under his arms.

"Get off, Wench!" InuYasha commanded, squeaking horribly on the 'wench.' "Stop!" He was contorting in all sorts of odd positions, like a worm running away from a bird.

Finally, he managed to sieze her hands, and yank her up, holding the poor girl up ogg her feet by her wrists. "Don't do that."

Kagome was giggling, not really listening to him. The hanyou sighed. He could forsee a great many tickling attacks in the near future. "Jeez, wench." He grumbled. "Yer as bad as Sesshoumaru was…" He stopped suddenly. He had _not _meant to say that. Dammit, he had really not meant to say that.

Kagome had caught it, too, he knew. If there was one thing he preferred not to think about of his childhood, it was his half brother.

Kagome opened her mouth and asked the question he knew was coming. "What was your brother like when you were a kid?"

InuYasha sighed, and looked up at the sky. Dammit, why did she have to be so easy to talk to? He sighed, and fell silent for just a little while. Jeez, he hadn't though of his brother the way they had been in a while…

---------------

_InuYasha peeked out from behind the ivory pillar, tiny golden eyes exited, and cherubic face gleaming happiness. His little fuzzy ears swiveled on top of his head, twitching this way and that. After all, how often did he get to see Sesshoumaru practice. _

_ Momma didn't think it was good for him to go and watch his brother. She said that it was 'too violent,' or something like that. But if Sesshoumaru was doing it, how could it be bad. He had snuck out of his nap to watch. He would probably get a spanking later, but it was worth it. _

_ His brother was standing in the middle of the secluded courtyard that he always used to practice. His short, messy hair was blowing slightly in unseen breezes, and his golden eyes were fixed in front of him sternly. _

_ InuYasha desperately wanted to cut his hair short like Sesshoumaru had, too, but momma wouldn't hear of it. Daddy apparently wouldn't either, although InuYasha hadn't seen his father in almost three months now. InuYasha thought that Sesshoumaru was awfully brave to cut his hair when Daddy wanted him to grow it out. InuYasha wanted to be brave like that too, but Momma wouldn't let him. _

_ Sesshoumaru started with a few basic thrusts and swings, keeping a steady, cool grip on the sword. InuYasha's eyes shone with admiration as the young tai-youkai began doing more and more fancy strokes, beginning to slice at an already well cut wooden pole to simulate an actual fight. _

_ InuYasha was so captivated by the smooth sword strokes that he didn't even notice that he had stepped out from behind the pillar until Sesshoumaru shot a confused glance at him, and stopped moving. _

_ Panicking suddenly, InuYasha dashed back behind the pillar. _

_ He heard Sesshoumaru chuckled just a little, and sheath his sword. "I saw you." He said, his voice just beginning to drop into manhood. "You can come on out." _

_ InuYasha half squealed in fear. Was Sesshoumaru gonna tell on him? He was gonna get a spanking! He knew it! Desperately, he decided to cover his tracks. "I'm not here!" He declared, his childish voice quaking. "I'm taking a nap like I should be!" _

_ Sesshoumaru chuckled lightly. "Oh, really?" His voice echoed from around the pillar. "Are you? I think your lying." _

_ "Am not!" InuYasha denied vehemently. His hiding place was too good, there was no way that Sesshoumaru knew for _sure _that the hanyou was there. _

_ His brother chuckled again, and crossed his smooth, bare arms. Sesshoumaru wore a awesome looking outfit that had his entire arms bare. Father disapproved, as usual, but InuYasha wanted an outfit just like it. It was really, really cool. "Tell you what." He said, "You best me with your sword, then I won't tell your mother." _

_ InuYasha was out from behind the pillar in a flash. "Really?" He demanded. _

_ "Surely." Sesshoumaru said with that fond smile that he always had whenever he was around his half brother. _

_ InuYasha grinned, and his hand went to the sword (a short stick that Sesshoumaru had peeled the bark off of for him). "Alright then, you better be ready!" He cried loudly, and charged, drawing his stick and swinging it wildly. _

_ Sesshoumaru, the sly smile still on his face, easily fended off InuYasha's first blows with his own sheathed blade, and danced nimbly back, standing at the ready. _

_ With youthful endurance, InuYasha continued to charge, his little face scrunched together in concentration. Sesshoumaru easily fended of his sword strokes, until one of the little hanyou's stray blows womehow managed to knock the blade out of his hand. _

_ With a squeaky cry of triumph, InuYasha swung his blade around and hit it into Sesshoumaru's side as hard as he could. _

_ Sesshoumaru only chuckled lightly, and held up his clawed hands. "Okay, okay, you win. I won't tell your mom." _

_ InuYasha, however, had forgotten all about that already. He was running in hyperactive circles around his half brother, declaring his victory loud enough for them to hear in __China__. "IbeathimIbeathimIbeathim!" _

_ Sesshoumaru kneeled down and glared at his half brother fondly. "That's right." He said. "That was some blow, too. I think you might have broken some of my ribs." _

_ InuYasha eyed Sesshoumaru suspiciously. He didn't look like he had broken ribs. "Really?" He demanded. _

_ "Oh, yeah…" Sesshoumaru said mildly, and suddenly darted in, tickling lightly at the hanyou's sides. "Definitely. I'll have to stay in bed to weeks." _

_ Inuyasha squirmed away from the dancing fingers with a little scream. "Quit!" _

_ "Feh." Sesshoumaru breathed. InuYasha loved Sesshoumaru's 'feh.' Just anough disrespect in it to get away with… InuYasha wanted to be able to 'feh' like that when he got older. "Run along, and go take your nap. I need to recover." _

_ InuYasha nodded happily. "Kay!" He said enthusiastically, and dashed off past the green hedges, laughing. _

_ A little later that day, InuYasha got a spanking anyway, but he really didn't care. _

---------------------

"InuYasha?" Kagome asked softly. InuYasha had stopped walking, and was silent. Had she asked something wrong? Had his brother beaten him as a child, or something? She blushed guiltily. Just when she thought she was getting the hanyou to open up a little bit more, she had to and ask something stupid.

InuYasha shook his head slowly, and shrugged. "Nothing." He muttered gruffly, and started walking again. "We should get going."

Kagome nodded. That was definitely the warning light to stop asking questions. It was funny, Kagome had never really thought of InuYasha as having a family. Well, she knew he had lived with his mother for a little while, but it was funny to think of him as having a father. A father on par with royalty, no less. She half giggled. Prince InuYasha. Certainly not prince charming, that's for sure.

Still, she wondered if his father had given him his looks. That fine, strong jaw. The wonderful, silky silver hair. An idiot smile overtook Kagome as she ogled just a bit. Then she caught herself, and snapped back to reality. Honestly, she was drooling over him like a drunken prom date!

A sudden jerk from InuYasha made her pause. "What is it?"

InuYasha sniffed at the air for just a moment. The growled lowly. "I smell something. Youkai."

Kagome felt an almost icy chill settle in the pit of her stomach. "A bounty hunter?"

"Maybe." He muttered, and kneeled down. "Hop on."

Kagome quickly jumped on to his back, and with a running leap they were air born, soaring through the sky.   
InuYasha's intelligent eyes scoured the ground as they began the descent of their arc. "Bingo." He said, pointing down.

Kagome followed the pointing finger to a huge cloud of dust was rising.

InuYasha whirled into a flip in midair, and somehow managed to launch himself downwards at amazing speeds. Kagome had to grab her lungs as they went down. She hadn't known he could do that.

He flipped smoothly in the air just moments before contact with the ground, and in one smooth motion landed, dropped Kagome, and leapt again, this time flying into the dust.

Kagome gaped. What was he doing? If it was a bounty hunter, they needed to run, right?

She winced at the sound of a sword unsheathing, and a deafening roar. Quickly, she flung her backpack on the ground, and drew out her bow. She knocked an arrow, and took careful aim into the clearing dust. The roars were still booming from the cloud, but now Kagome could make out two shapes in the dust. A huge, looming shadow, and a swift moving one with a sword that surely belonged to InuYasha. Her eyes narrowed, and there was a third, smaller shadow standing near the edge of the smoke. It looked like it was shielding itself.

As the dust cleared, the shapes took on more character. It was, in fact, InuYasha fighting the hulking thing. The thing itself looked like some sort of giant ape youkai, its long bandy arms swinging this way and that, trying to swat InuYasha out of the air. The figure on the ground was robed in a white cloak of fur, and had long brown hair tied back in a pony tail. She was half sitting on the ground watching the battle with rapt attention.

Kagome's eyes narrowed, and she drew the bow taunt. Just one good hit, and…

InuYasha let out a yell of triumph, and threw himself at the giant roaring ape, just as both things hands crashed down at the spot where he hand been standing. InuYasha flew strait to the things head, and with one smooth motion, slashed into the things eyes with the Tetsusaiga. Kagome blinked just a moment. Why did he still have his sword in its small, beat up form? Not that it really made much of difference at this point. The great beast fell backwards, its eyes already clouding over.

With a smooth push, InuYasha jumped off the bulk of the creature, and dropped down to the ground near the white clad woman. Kagome also put her arrow back in its quiver, and headed over to woman.

She was just a little shorter than Kagome, and had a smooth, almond shaped face and alabaster complexion. She also had pointed ears, Kagome noticed. She was at least part youkai herself.

InuYasha spat, and rammed his sword into the ground. "You okay?" he demanded of the youkai woman.

The woman nodded at him, but her expression was annoyed. She dusted off her outfit, a red top of some sort that left her shoulders bare, and a white skirt of the same fur as her cloak. "I really wish you hadn't gone and done that." She muttered, her voice light and dancing.

"What are you talking about?" InuYasha demanded. "We just saved your ass!"

The girl looked at him. "I could have taken care of him myself, thank you." She muttered. "Wolf youkai aren't that weak, you know."

"Wolf?" InuYasha sniffed at her just a moment. "Damn." He swore. "You are a wolf."

Kagome blinked. What did InuYasha have against wolves?

She looking him casually up and down, her grayish eyes flicking to his dog ears. "Very good. And you're a half dog." The girl said in an insulting manner. She glanced back up at the body. It was already beginning to rot away. "Oh, and you killed him too." She sighed, despite the cheery tone in her voice. "Oh, well…"

Kagome blinked again. And what did she have against InuYasha?

"Since when have _wolves _cared about killing apes?" InuYasha asked, crossing his arms. He had said wolf like some sort of accusation.

The girl looked back towards the body. "Well I was going to interrogate him, and besides, you know what us bounty hunters say:" InuYasha froze, suddenly becoming stiff as a board. "'An innocent person is just a bounty head who ain't worth money yet.' He might have become inconvenient to someone with money someday. But no, thanks to _you _he's never gonna be worth any money to anything." Another sigh. "Oh well…"

InuYasha slowly began to back away from the girl, motioning subtly for Kagome to do the same.

The girl turned back around, this time towards Kagome. "Maybe you can help me." She reached into her white fur cloak, and pulled out a scroll. Kagome gaped at the scroll just a moment. Drawn on it clearly was InuYasha's face. "Have you seen this person?" She asked. "Name's InuYasha, about medium height, really bad attitude…" She slowly trailed off, then blinked at her own words. She flipped the parchment around again, and inspected it for just a moment. Then turned to InuYasha. Then the parchement. Then InuYasha.

A smile slowly spread across her face. She crossed her arms, and grinned at the hanyou. "Intresting." She said through a smile which exposed long fangs. The smile of a predator.

InuYasha was still backing away, his sword in his hands.

"Well, that was lucky." She remarked, holding up her hands. The claws on them seemed to grow ever so slightly. "You are under arrest by decree of the Lord of the Western Lands. Anything you say can and will lead me to beat you up."

InuYasha crouched down low, growling. "You really think you can take me on?" he growled. "You saw what I did to that ape…" He was very slowly circling the wolf. With a little flutter in her stomach, Kagome saw that he was making his way to put himself between her and the bounty hunter.

The wolf laughed, and crouched down low herself. "Oh, come on. I really don't wanna have to fight you. Won't you just come easy-like?" She drew out a long knife made out of some sort of fang from the cloak, and smiled. "You really don't wanna mess with me. I'm Ayame, the white wolf."


	27. Loyalties

Woot! Finally! Jeez, this took forever. Five, frikin weeks! Man!.

Okay, sorry this took so long, but I have some very pathetic excuses. First off, I've been busy with a whole bunch of random stuff. I've had work, as well as going to see aliens vs. predator. (It was actually pretty good. Much better than expected, although not as good as the original alien).

Anywho, a whole lot of stuff has kept me busy, along with continual dissatisfaction with my writing quality have led to the long delay wich you have just experienced.

For a while now, I've been sorta blah about how my writing has been going, since I couldn't see much improvement going on. So, with this chapter, I decided that I wasn't posting until I thought it was to my satisfaction. And happily enough, I now belive it is. I'm going to continue doing this from now on, however I'll say that the delays wont be as long anymore, though. Pretty soon schools gonna start again, and I'm not doing soccer, so that gives me spare time after school to work on stuff. I'll try and work faster.

Just a not eon Ayame, She's a little OOC here, because I needed to make her just a little serious for this fight. Thanks to some Info I got, I know pretty well what her personality is going to be like, (Happy and bubbly) but that's just a little hard to do in the middle of a fight, so she's just a ltitle on the serious side in this chapter.

On a happier note, this fic is now as long as two weeks, with half the chapters… and I'm not even half done with it yet… aw crap.

Now, some quick responces.

StormMaker: Thanks very much for the info on Ayame. That was pretty much how I pictured her, but thanks for reassuring me. I'm changing just a bit of her history, for instance, she doesn't actually know koga yet, but for the most part I'm gonna make her happy and bubbly.

Gossa, Kitten-Kisses, Tanwen-Whitefire, TaintedInuShemeeko, and Valese, thanks for all your kind words, and sorry I didn't update sooner. Don't hate me please! ;)

Ozmandius, I maintain that if someone can say 'wenchy' then 'wenchy' is in fact a word.

And finally, Rayame: Thanks for the words, and out of curiousity, are you a Christian? Me too! w00t Was this youth group thing that you went to Kingdom Bound? We might have seen each other!

Anywho, enough of my raving! On with the fic!

---------

Kagome's heart beat hard and heavy in her chest. Oh, god, they had been found!

Her eyes lowly traced from the silver haired hanyou to the crouching wolf youkai.

Ayame scared Kagome just a little. If anything InuYasha had said was true, then this girl was a trained killer, and wouldn't even begin to hesitate to take out anything in her path to get at InuYasha. That knowledge would have a sobering effect on anybody.

InuYasha, on the other hand, scared her a lot. She had seen him cocky going into a fight. She had seen him angry going into a fight. She had seen him determined going into a fight. But she had never seen him like this. Pure, basic, instinctive survival was written all over his face. He was sweating nervously, and his hands were shaking ever so slightly, despite his firm grip on the Tetsusaiga. If InuYasha was scared, then what was going to happen?

"Listen, doggy…" Ayame said, her expression almost friendly. "I'm just here to bring you to Sesshoumaru. I really don't wanna hurt you. So why don't you just go nice and quietly?"

InuYasha growled lowly, a bloodthirsty threat.

Ayame shrugged. "Why do they always do it the hard way?" She asked herself plaintively. She cast the hanyou a wry glance. "Honestly, I hate these 'bring him back alive' jobs." She drew a dagger from her cloak. It was serrated, with a wicked looking hook on the end. "Honestly, does this look like a tool to bring someone back alive?"

Kagome's blood chilled. This girl didn't look older than Kagome herself, but here she was, waving that knife around…

InuYasha drew himself up, and put his sword down in a kendo stance.

Ayame took two quick steps, then leapt at him, her cloak flying out behind her like a comet tail.

InuYasha half sneered, and sidestepped, knocking the dagger to the side with a simple motion of the Tetsusaiga.

Kagome blinked, and her heart began racing even faster. InuYasha was moving really fast… maybe they had a chance after all.

Ayame landed, and leapt again instantly, flying back towards the hanyou.

Once again, InuYasha knocked the dagger aside, then just as quickly brought the hilt of the Tetsusaiga up in a strong clothesline. Ayame's legs kept moving while her head stopped, and she somehow managed to land in an unceremonious heap on the ground.

Kagome smiled lightly, the fear just beginning to subside. Either she wasn't as tough as the other bounty hunters InuYasha knew about, or InuYasha training had really paid off.

InuYasha was starting to figure this out too, apparently, because he leapt back, and propped the Tetsusaiga over his shoulder, smiling lightly. "Hey, I thought that wolves were the strongest dogs…" He said, his voice taking on just a bit of that cocky edge that she loved so much. That was a little comforting, at least.

"Oh, don't worry puppy." Ayame said, struggling to her feet. "I'm not gonna let you get away. We wolves chase our prey for miles."

InuYasha snorted derisively, and suddenly dashed forward himself, lashing out with the Tetsusaiga. This time it was Ayame who parried, and took a swing at his face. Ready, InuYasha dodged under the blow, and threw his shoulder into her stomach.

Another point for their team.

This time, InuYasha actually laughed, jumping away again. Ayame struggled to her feet, and leapt forward, slashing, parrying and kicking. They bashed each other back and forth mercilessly, Kagome gasping with every blow.

Finally, they jumped away again, and began staring each other down, breath hard.

"Very nice, so far, puppy." Ayame muttered, hand resting on her knees. "Sesshoumaru said that you were pathetic in the bounty, but he's apparently underestimated you."

"I'm overjoyed to hear that." InuYasha said sarcastically.

"Just thought you'd like to know that I think you're pretty good before I bring you in." She shrugged. "For a dog, anyway."

"Well, you've been doing a great job so far."

Ayame almost giggled. "You're far too cocky, little doggy." She murmured. "But there's more to fighting than just hitting each other. Look behind…"

InuYasha scoffed. "You expect me to fall for that one?" He laughed. "You better try harder."

Kagome, however, looked for him. There wasn't anything behind him.

Ayame shook her head. "Not behind you… behind me."

Kagome blinked, and looked around. What was behind the wolf? Then it hit her. She was staring at the back of the wolf's head.

Oh, god.

It all happened in a flash.

Kagome only managed a single gasp of air before a hand slammed into her throat, and wrapped around her neck.

Such a strong grip. Feebly, Kagome squirmed in the wolf's grip, and tried to pry at the strong hand at her neck. She couldn't breath! A little whimper escaped from her lips, and she immediately tried to draw the precious air back in, but she couldn't manage.

The wolf slowly turned around, and held Kagome up off her feet, tauntingly.

For a very brief moment, Kagome's eyes met Ayame's and they locked. She had brown eyes too, just like Kagome's. Her mouth was just a slight, tired, wry smile, and she shrugged ever so lightly. _Sorry bout this, but money is money._

Smoothly, the wolf transferred her grip from Kagome's throat to the back of her neck, holding her up for InuYasha to see. Kagome gasped a breath of air, relived. Then she saw InuYasha. He was frozen in place, his expression a mix of shock and horror.

"I think that even you can understand the ramifications of our given situation." Ayame remarked, her voice oozing satisfaction.

Slowly, InuYasha's expression melted from one of shock to one of pure brooding rage. "Put her down." He said, slowly.

"Drop your sword, and don't put up a fight, and I will."

InuYasha looked down at the Tetsusaiga, then back up at Kagome. "This doesn't involve her." He protested.

"Yes, but, you see, If I fought you man to man, you would probably hurt me, and I really don't want that."

Kagome clutched desperately at the hand holding her, trying to pry the fingers away from her neck, but wasn't having any luck. If only she could reach one of the arrows on her back… She wrapped her hand around, and began grasping.

Ayame growled softly at her. "Don't try it." He other hand came around, and the hooked tip of the knife lowered dangerously close to her throat.

Kagome let out a little whimper, and InuYasha took an involuntary step forward.

"Now, when we get right down to it, I don't really want to hurt this girl. There's no money in it, and I don't particularly like killing those that don't benefit me. So you can save her really easily, by just giving up."

Kagome struggled again, this time driving her nails into the wolf's hands. "Hey, now." The wolf scolded, and brought the knife down quickly, to one of the hands.

Kagome winced, and instantly her hand jumped away. She could see blood already forming on her finger, and dropping to the ground.

InuYasha's eyes followed the drops as if they were more precious than diamonds, then slowly traced his eyes back to the grinning Ayame. "If you even think of doing that again…" He seethed through clenched teeth, "I will rip your throat out."

Ayame shrugged. "Her fault. She shouldn't have tried to struggle."

Kagome squirmed again, but was careful not to try to flail out with her hands. No telling what would happen next time. It only she could get at her arrows, then she could…

She blinked suddenly in revelation.

Maybe…

"Now, are you going to put down your sword?"

"Like hell I am. Drop her."

Ayame tightened her grip on the back of Kagome's neck, causing the poor girl to writhe in pain. "InuYasha." She managed to squeak. Kagome could see the hanyou's eyes widen as she called his name.

Oh, god… was he really going to surrender?

InuYasha stared at Kagome once more, then looked up. "Put down Kagome, and I'll put down my sword."

Kagome's eyes widened, and she shook her head in the wolves grasp. "No…" She whimpered.

The wolf shook her own head. "No indeed. The second I drop her, you kill me. You drop first."

InuYasha scowled. "No way."

Kagome closed her eyes slowly, and tried to ignore the pain in her neck. This was going to be difficult. Subtly, she snuck her hands up to clawed hand holding her, and wrapped them feebly around it. She could feel the gentle rise and fall of the miko powers in her, and slowly began to sway them back and forth, moving with them, stirring them higher. There… she had it. It was he same feeling she had with a bow in her hands. Slowly, she began to draw the bow back, tighter, and tighter. The power began to flow up through her, up into her arms. The hair on the back of her neck began to stand on end as the bow was drawn even tighter.

"Put down the sword, doggie." She was dimly aware of the barbed knife coming even closer to her. "Or I'll make her bleed even more."

She could feel InuYasha's resolve weakening. He was leaning down now, sliding the sword along the ground.

With an almost relieved sigh, the miko fired the bow.

Kagome could feel the power rush between her hands, crackling into the wolf's slender wrist.

Ayame's eyes widened suddenly, just as InuYasha's grip left the Tetsusaiga, and she screamed, yanking back the hand with the knife, and trying to pull away from the girl.

The waves of power rushing through Kagome finally subsided, and she fell to the ground, panting.

Ayame fell away, clutching at her wrist, swearing wildly.

Kagome quickly, got to her feet, and scrambled over next to InuYasha. The hanyou was staring at her, eyes wide.

"How the hell did you…" He trailed off.

"I don't know…" She said, more than a little shocked herself. She had just tried to focus her power like she did when firing a bow, and… bam, the wolf was screaming.

InuYasha shrugged, and snatched up the Tetsusaiga again, holding it a little more confidently this time. "Find your bow, and stay out of her way." He instructed. "I'll take care of her."

Kagome nodded, trembling, and looked around quickly. Quickly, she spotted the bow, lying close to where the wolf had first grabbed her. She darted over, and quickly had an arrow strung taunt. She whirled around, and began sighting at the wolf.

InuYasha slowly walked towards the wolf, keeping himself closely between her and Kagome.

"Dammit." Ayame was muttering, clasping at her hand. It had dark, painful looking sear marks all along the wrist. "Sesshoumaru, that bastard… he didn't tell me she was a Miko…" She looked up suddenly, staring up at InuYasha. Kagome was shocked to see that tears littered her eyes and cheeks. Her eyes shone with an almost childish resentment, and her mouth was twisted in a pouting scowl.

InuYasha smirked, holding the Tetsusaiga out carefully. "So, the big bad wolf is crying now?" He demanded.

"Don't be so cocky." Ayame muttered, her tone sullen. She held up her good hand, the dagger clasped firmly in it. "I can still fight."

InuYasha chuckled. "Right." He said, sarcastically.

Ayame growled, and rushed forward, thrusting forward. InuYasha smoothly blocked the attack, and countered with his own low slash.

As they fenced back and forth, Kagome began inching to the side, looking for the opportunity to launch an arrow in. The thrumming of the power was going with the clanging of steel on steel now. When the flow of power was fierce like this, it was easy to focus into the arrow. However, at the rate the battle was going, it didn't look like she would need to fire.

InuYasha was now on a heavy offensive, launching blow after stunning blow from the left and the right. Ayame was dodging most of them, and parrying the rest, but she was panting heavily, and stumbling every few steps. It didn't look like she could keep it up much longer.

InuYasha gripped the Tetsusaiga in both hands and slammed it down, knocking Ayame to her knees. The wolf let out a panicked cry, and began scuttling away backwards, holding the knife up in feeble defense.

InuYasha spat on the ground, and brought the slim blade up into a stabbing position, preparing to skewer the wolf. In desperation, Ayame threw herself forward, lashing out at InuYasha legs. The hanyou yelled out in pain, and collapsed to one knee.

Instantly, Kagome had her bow up again, and sited firmly on the wolf. Sending a surge of power into the arrow, she let it fly.

Ayame looked up just in time, and flung herself again to the side, this time falling to her side, and rolling. She stopped just five feet from InuYasha, and slowly sat up, rubbing her dirty face.

Kagome strung another arrow, but stopped just short of firing it. InuYasha was getting up again, clutching one hand around his bleeding leg, and the other firmly around the Tetsusaiga. He stood to his feet, then fell once again to one knee, cursing heavily.

"Not having much luck, huh?" Ayame muttered to him, trying to rise once again to her feet. "I missed your tendons, but you shouldn't be able to walk anyway…"

InuYasha looked up at her. "Shut up, wolf." He snarled, and swung the Tetsusaiga. Ayame fell backwards involuntarily, despite the blade coming a good foot short of her.

"You missed, dog." Ayame muttered.

InuYasha smirked, and swung again. But this time, in the middle of the arc of the swing, the blade of the Tetsusaiga suddenly flared to life, transforming into six feet of solid, deadly fang.

With a sudden shriek of shock, Ayame flung up her hands to protect herself. Somehow, she hit the blade, spinning it wildly. The broad, heavy backside of the sword caught her firmly across the head, and sent her skidding across the dirt, and finally into the thick trunk of an oak. She didn't get up.

Relief rushed over Kagome, and she dashed over to InuYasha's side. Before she could say anything, the hanyou pushed her away lightly. "I'm fine." He said in a ragged voice. "Go check the wolf. I wanna know if she's still alive."

The girl looked at InuYasha's serious face, then nodded. She didn't want to counter his orders when he was like this. Quickly, she walked over to the prone youkai, and looked her over. If she was alive, she gave no sign of it. Her head was hanging at an odd angle, and a trickle of blood was running out of her hair, and down her forehead. Her eyes were open, and Kagome could see that one pupil was dilated far more than the other. If she wasn't dead, she soon would be…

She turned back to InuYasha only to see the hanyou was trying to get up, supporting himself on the Tetsusaiga. "InuYasha!" She cried, running over to him. "You shouldn't be walking!" She quickly got herself under his shoulder, and pushed up, supporting his bad side. "You need to rest!"

InuYasha only snorted. "Is she out?"

Kagome looked at him. "I don't think she's still alive. You hit her pretty hard."

The hanyou almost chuckled. "Damn right I did." He muttered. "Can you help me walk?"

"No way!" Kagome reprimanded. "You're wounded. We need to get you treated right away."

InuYasha scowled at her. "Jeez, Kagome. This ain't near as bad as some of the stuff I've been through, and besides, I don't wanna be around her when anyone finds the wolf."

Kagome blinked. "Why not?"

"Well think about it. She looks about your age, and pretty helpless, right? And I'm not exactly the most innocent looking character. Anyone who walks in on us is gonna immediately assume that I'm the bad guy, and try to kill me or something."

Well, it _was _a good point. Kagome nodded, finally. "Fine, but only a little ways. Then, we stop for the day."

InuYasha didn't look too angry at the thought of a good nights sleep, but didn't say anything besides a traditional 'feh.'

Slowly, as they traveled, the adrenaline began running out of Kagome's system. She could feel the weight of the hanyou slowly getting heavier. Slowly, they eased along the road, looking occasionally fro a place to stop. After maybe a mile, which took almost thirty minutes of limping, Kagome spotted an area where the trees were a little sparser, and guided the hanyou over to it.

Carefully, InuYasha removed his arm form her shoulder, and leaned up against a tree. Her chuckled lightly. "Well, she wasn't that tough. I dunno what I was so worked up about." He looked up with her, and odd grin on his face. "You okay?"

Kagome blinked. _He _was asking _her _if she was okay? "You're the one with the cut up leg." She reminded him.

The hanyou spat on the ground, and suddenly leaned forward, and grabbed her wrist. "Yeah, but I'm a hanyou." He said, and pulled lightly. Kagome almost squeaked as he pulled at her, and she fell right next to him. "You're not."

He deftly opened her hand, and inspected it. Kagome blinked to see blood on her right index finger. That's right… Ayame had stabbed that finger. She had forgotten.  
The hanyou scowled at it, and very suddenly brought the finger up to his mouth, and put it to his lips.

Kagome might have yelled if she hadn't been so surprised. A blush spread across her face, and her eyes involuntarily locked with his. He kept his calm, placed gaze firmly fixed on her as he sucked off the blood, and gently rubbed the finger off with his thumb. "Here, this should take care of it." He muttered roughly as he reached into his haori. Deftly, he ripped a piece of the white cloth off, and wrapped it around the finger. "Jeez, you get hurt really easily, don't you? You should stay back, and let me do the fighting from now on."

Kagome blinked, and held the finger in front of her face, staring at it cross eyes. He was being so gentle… what was she supposed to say to that? Not finding any words, she collapsed to his side, leaning against the tree shoulder to shoulder with him.

"Damn…" The hanyou muttered. "I'm sore all over now. Stupid wolf."

"Hey, InuYasha, what exactly do you have against wolves?" Kagome asked curiously.

InuYasha looked slightly perplexed at that question. "What do you mean?"

Kagome shrugged. "Well, you kept on calling her wolf, like it was an insult."

InuYasha scoffed. "Well, yeah." He muttered. "She was a wolf. They're just… wolves. Y'know, they're just bad."

Kagome blinked… then shook her head. That didn't make much sense to her, but whatever.

"So, what was that thing you did, back there?"

"What thing?" Kagome asked, her brain slowly beginning to shut down. It was only beginning to be twilight, but she was tired as all heck.

"You know, when she had you by the neck, and you burned her arm."

Kagome shrugged. "I dunno. I just… focused my mind the same way I would do when I was firing an arrow, but I focused on her arm instead."

"Well, you sure did save the day. Not bad."

Kagome smiled, and blushed at the compliment. "Well, what about you? Two weeks ago, you could never have wielded a sword like that?"

"Yeah, well, this Lled guy knows his stuff, even if he is just an old bum."

"He's the one who you train with at the gym?"

"Yeah. But he's much better than me." InuYasha spat. "He coulda ripped that wolf to sheds before the could have even moved."

"Wow, that good, huh?"

"Yep. But don't worry. I'll keep on practicing, and then I'll be able to kick his butt too."

Kagome laughed, and punched him lightly an the arm. "Oh, really."

"Hell, yeah." InuYasha laughed, mock munching back.

Kagome chuckled, and slouched down just a little, getting herself more comfortable. "InuYasha?"

InuYasha glanced at her. She could tell form his eyes that he was tired too. "Yeah?"

"Would you really have given up to save me?" She asked.

InuYasha snorted. "No." He muttered.

Kagome glanced sharply at him. "But you were halfway to putting down your sword when I broke free!"

InuYasha blinked for a second. "Well, yeah." He muttered, looking put out. "But I was just putting down my sword. That wasn't actually giving up."

Kagome looked at him for a second. "You're a bad liar, you know that?"

The hanyou scowled, crossing his arms. "Feh. Like you know anything."

Kagome elbowed him in the side. "Don't ever give up for me, InuYasha… I'm really not worth it."

InuYasha grinned at her. "You know, you're not too good at lying yourself." He admonished her.

Kagome looked at him sharply. "I'm serious." She insisted. "You shouldn't ever let me get in the way of your survival."

InuYasha scowled. "Kagome, do you remember what you told me, that one night right before we met Vadise?"

Kagome blinked, then blushed bright red. "That night in the cave?"

InuYasha nodded. "You remember?"

"I told you that I'd never leave you."

"Very good." InuYasha muttered sardonically. "And I'm holding you to that promise." Slowly, his arm snuck over her shoulder, and pulled her just a little closer. "I'm never gonna let you leave me, ever. No matter what." He fixed her a long, deep stare, his golden eyes glowing eerily in the fading light. "Get it?"

Kagome gaped just a minute, then nodded slowly, blushing.

"Good," The hanyou muttered, then slowly lowered his chin to his chest. "Now get some sleep. I wanna be able to move again in the morning."

Yeah, right. Like Kagome was getting any sleep now. Slowly, she looked over and inspected his profile. His eyes were already closed, and his mouth was turned up ever so slightly in a smiled.

Slowly, Kagome leaned her head down onto his shoulder, and she sighed, staring out into the twilight, thinking.


	28. Embarking

Miroku was feeling fairly suspicious. Things had been going just a bit too good for him to be comfortable lately. It was when everything was bad that you knew you were alright. When everything was bad, all the cards were on the table. It was when things were good that they started getting risky. Someone was always out to get you when things were going well.

The monk looked around the bar, noting some of the rustic features. He wouldn't have expected a place like this in a city of such noble youkai. In fact, he wouldn't have expected just about anything he had seen today in a city of noble youkai. There was just something wrong about powerful werewolves going to the bazaar and buying some fish. But the bar was undoubtedly the coop de grace. While the exterior was, like the rest of the city, all marble and white stone, the inside was modeled to resemble a standard seaside tavern. Everything was hardwood, including the booth at which he and his new and old acquaintances sat. The food was very plain, but very tasty, and there was even a large fish mounted on the wall. Miroku could feel very at home here. Now if only the serving girls would hurry back…

His new 'friends' confused him. This pirate Morgan was just a bit too friendly for Miroku's taste. He was pleasant enough, certainly. In the past hour that Miroku had actually known him; he had smiled most of it, and was almost always ready with some sort of witty comment. He did seem to be a very likeable person. But he _was _a pirate, and not a very trustworthy one at that. He had insisted on taking them to a bar before they left on the voyage, and paid in the self same types of jewels that he had seen Youkai all over the city wearing. Undoubtedly, they were stolen.

And Sesshoumaru himself had been unusually tolerant of them. Not altogether friendly, but certainly not attempting to kill them, which in any case was improvement. However, things were indeed suspicious. Sesshoumaru had always professed to hate humans, but he seemed fairly tolerant now. He and the pirate were speaking of plans in calm voices across from one another, and there was a little girl trailing after him constantly. Occasionally the monk would catch snippets of their conversation, and hear things like 'trajectory,' 'training,' and 'amassing forces.' Perhaps there was some sort of conflict arising.

The only one he didn't suspect suspicious motives from was the dragon, Kiriln. She seemed to be like most of the other dragons. Very easygoing, and largely oblivious to any hardship around her until it came down on her head. And besides, she was very attractive. Surely nobody who would be willing to bear his children would have ill motives. Speaking of that, he would have to make a point to ask her after a little while. Most surely, she would agree, but it never hurt to check. Unless Sango was around. Then it did hurt.

As it was, his group, largely consisting of Sango, Shippo, Kohaku, and himself sat on one end of the table, while the others all sat at the other end. Kirara was curled up on the hearth in front of the fireplace, purring loudly. There was a sort of separation of conversation at the table. Most people were silent, save Sesshoumaru and Morgan, who talked in hushed tones. In fact, the entire bar was extremely quiet; although that was reasonable considering that the leader of the city was visiting.

Like a timid mouse, one of the serving girls poked her head out of kitchen, and stared at them for just a moment. Once it seemed she had summoned up her courage, she headed out, carrying a laden tray. Carefully, she headed directly for Sesshoumaru, and placed the tray on a table near him.

Sesshoumaru stopped his conversation for just a second, and turned to stare at her. The poor girl froze under his gaze, fear etched across her features. Miroku couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen himself. Had the girl insulted him in some way? Sesshoumaru, however, did absolutely nothing, save gaze at the girl.

As quickly as she could muster, the poor thing snatched a plate off of her tray, and placed it in front of the Tai Youkai with trembling hands. "The Lady Rin's dish, milord." She stuttered.

Miroku blinked. Lady Rin? Who was Lady Rin?

Sesshoumaru nodded once at her, sniffed at the food, nodded again, and then slid the tray just to his right, where the little human girl stared at it happily. Miroku almost choked. The human girl had been served before the lord himself? And Sesshoumaru even seemed nonchalant about this. What was going on here?

"And Milord's dish." She said, handing the second dish over to Sesshoumaru. It was some sort of fried fish, quite like the girl was having. Sesshoumaru nodded again, this time with the very slightest air of gratitude and dismissal, and the girl very quickly scuttled away into the kitchen again. Miroku could here the whispers echoing out as she told her fellow waitresses what had transpired.

Apparently bolstered, others were quickly out with laden trays, and the others at the table were served just as quickly, and a saucer of milk was placed on the hearth for Kirara.

Miroku looked down at his plate, and noted happily enough that the food seemed to be genuine fish. Not that he doubted the cooks, but youkai did eat some strange things. Like people.

Slowly, he began eating, munching first on the succulent fish, then on to some of the greenish vegetables on the side. The others took his example, and also began to enjoy the meal.

Morgan himself was the only one with out fish in front of him. Instead, he pulled out what seemed to be a hunk of bread from his pocket, and began to gnaw on it. It looked very stale.

Kiriln herself was eating much like he was, with slow, careful bites, and savoring every flavor.

Rin was acting much more like Shippo, scoffing down the food as fast as she could. Twice already, she had choked, but managed to get it down with a little of the Tangy dink they had been served with the meal.

Sesshoumaru had taken only a single bit of the fish, and that was all. He sat placidly, waiting as the others ate.

Finally, Morgan looked up from his bread, and inspected them. More particularly, he inspected Sango, adding them as an afterthought. "So, my lovely lady." He finally said to her. "You said something about hitching a ride on my ship, so what's this all about then?"

Sango nodded, and put down her chopsticks. "We need a ride into mainland Japan, and we were assured that you would be able to give one to us, captain." She kept her voice respecting, trying not to insult him.

"Oh, please, milady. Morgan will do nicely." Sango blushed just a little at being called milady. Miroku narrowed his eyes just a little. Was he trying to be charming? Well, if he had picked Sango out to charm, then Miroku had to admit, he had good taste in women. "However, Milady, it seems I don't know your name, and 'twould be a shame to not know the name of such a vision of beauty." Miroku's eyes narrowed just a bit more. Maybe his taste was a little _too _good.

Sango, blushing even more now, smiled ever so slightly. "My name is Sango." She said softly, "and theses are my companions, Miroku, Shippo, Kohaku, and Kirara." Each she gestured at as she called the name.

"A pleasure to meet you all." He said pleasantly. "I'll shall be happy to such a lovely lady and her guardians aboard my fine vessel." He paused for just a moment, stroking his beard. "We… ah… _do _have a certain amount of work that will need to be done mid voyage, you understand."

Sango smiled ever so slightly at him. "That's not a problem." She assured.

Morgan nodded gratefully. "Wonderful." He said. "Now, I have just a few more words to say to my client, and then I'll be ready to leave…" He eyes Sango just a moment. "I don't suppose you'd let me buy you a drink while we wait?"

Miroku's eyes widened. Little red warning lights were running around madly in his mind… buy her a drink? Wasn't that some sort of proposition?

"I don't drink." Sango said smoothly, with just a little icy twinge to her voice.

Morgan raised an eyebrow, and looked just a little put out. After resting his eyes on the girl for a moment longer, her turned back to Sesshoumaru and the dragon. "Well, then, Milord." He addressed Sesshoumaru. "We should probably be leaving soon, so that we can be well on our way by twilight."

Sesshoumaru nodded, and rose slowly from his seat, his fish mostly untouched. "Very well…" he said softly. He slowly directed his gaze towards the young girl at his side, who seemed to be devoted to finishing her fish before they left. "Rin." He commanded. "Find Aaron for me, and tell him to see me before the ship leaves."

Rin nodded sharply. "Yes, milord." She got up and dashed out the door, taking the fish and the expensive looking plate it was on with her. Miroku could see out of the corner of his eyes one of the kitchen girls almost fainting.

Sesshoumaru himself also began heading towards the door. "I shall meet you at the harbor at the time of departure…"

Morgan nodded sullenly, at him, and the Tai-Youkai strode regally out of the tavern himself, leaving an air of distinct control behind him. As he strode out the door, the pirate gave a sigh of relief, and quickly whipped back to the dragon. "You had better pay me in spades for this." He warned her.

Miroku smirked to himself inwardly. Mayhap there was something more going on here than he thought.

Kiriln shrugged her shoulders, and began playing idly with one of the long silken streamers of her clothing. "Don't worry, Morgan. I'll make sure you get something cool…"

Morgan snorted. "You'd better. I can't believe I got dragged into this… Pirates aren't supposed to get drafted."

Miroku perked an eyebrow. "Drafted?" He asked.

"Sesshoumaru decided that my ship was a useful asset, and so now he's using it how he sees fit."

"And Morgan is stuck as the pilot…" Kiriln said, as if she found it amusing.

The pirate sighed, and shook his head. "And I can't bloody well run, on account of the bastard has those beastie thingies patrolling the seas too." He faced towards Kiriln just a little. "Unless, perhaps you'd like to make some cover for me? You know, tsunamis, lightning bolts, monsoons? That sort o thing?"

Kiriln smiled. "Well, first off, no, because I would like to keep my relations with Sesshoumaru good. And second off, do you know how many tons of water I would have to move to make any of those happen? Do you know how wide of an area I'd have to affect? I'd be asleep for a week, and but helpless as a kitten afterwards…" She stuck out her tongue. "The mere thought of it makes me pooped."

Morgan cursed. "Alright, alright, so for the time being I'm stuck here. Any idea when he'll let me off?"

Kiriln shrugged. "Probably when all this is over." She muttered. "Heaven knows if any of us'll be alive then."

Sango spoke up, and voiced Miroku's thoughts. "What exactly is going on right now?"

Kiriln raised an eyebrow at her. "Why don't you ask Sesshoumaru?" She asked.

"Because the last few times we've seen him, he's tried to kill us." She responded politely. "Just call us prejudice…"

Kiriln almost chuckled. "Well, that could make for some friction on the voyage…" She muttered.

Sango paused just a moment, to take that in. "Excuse me?" She asked.

Kiriln laughed, a light airy laugh. "Didn't you know? Sesshoumaru is going with you."

Damn, damn, and double damn…

Koga was running… he always ran when he wanted to think. It helped clear his mind. The wind whipping through his hair, pulling at his body, trying desperately to slow him, and failing miserably. It was sheer exhilaration, knowing that nothing could stop him, ever… The ground gave way before his flying feet, kicking up great whirlwinds of dust behind him, and the clawed at him like so many dragons… and nothing in the world could slow him down…

But what about the pack?

For almost a year, now, he had been the alpha male. In that year alone, they had lost twenty of their number… out of which six where females. And it was all thanks to the damn birds. Of coarse, nobody blamed him. How could they? Things had been even worse before he had become leader, and they hadn't even had to deal with the birds before then. But twenty lives lost was to damn much in his book. _Any _life cost was too much in his book. But how the hell was he supposed to protect everybody.

He could protect himself easily enough. With the shards of the sacred jewel, not much could mess with him. But what use was it when he couldn't even protect the pack. There wasn't anything he could do… how the hell could he fend off an attack of hundreds of birds at a time. It wasn't possible. But now… when the birds were weak… maybe if they could strike, he wouldn't have to protect them anymore.

But not without planning… no, that was ludicrous. The old days of relying on pure instinct was over. He had to plan out everything to the dot. And that required surveillance, didn't it? He stopped suddenly, the backlash of the wind he had created hitting him firmly in the back. He was at the edge of the forests now. The edge of the wolf's territory... he slowly rose his eyes up to the looming mountain range in front of him. This was the bird's turf… but hey, he could outrun anything he needed to in here, so there were no worries… He had to ascertain their numbers, after all.

He was about to start up when a faint smell twitched into his nostrils. That was one of the problems with running so fast. You couldn't smell the roses until you were well past them…

But this was no rose he smelled. This was a wolf. A bleeding wolf. He cast a sullen glance at the mountains, and turned around. The birds would still be recovering for a few more days, and he had no idea how long this wolf would last. Only one obvious choice. He quickly turned around, and ran off in the direction of the scent, this time moving slowly enough to catch the scent. It was faint, but Koga didn't recognize it at all. And Koga made a point to know every wolf in his territory. This was an outsider.

It wasn't too terribly long before he found the source of the smell.

Damn, damn, damn… Just Koga's luck. Well, he could forget about checking out the birds today. He kneeled down low over the body, sniffing at it. He couldn't even tell if the poor thing was alive. She lay completely still, broken against the chattered bulk of the tree. Her nose was broken, and blood had caked on her face. What little skin he could see was ashen, and clammy. Was he too late? She was wearing wolf's furs, much like he was, and her hair was reddish brown and tied up in a pony tail. What the hell had down this? It didn't look like the bird's work. If it had been, there wouldn't have been enough of her left to be worth looking for. No, this was something else…

He looked around the area, poking through trees and looking around. There had been some sort of struggle here… He found a wicked looking hooked knife lying in the ground. Whoever the bastard was who used that had to be pretty sick. He could pick up some faint smells… There was the smell of a dog youkai here, but weak. Maybe a hanyou? Not unheard of, although rare. And if it was a dog, that would explain the beaten wolf. Everyone knew that a dog would sooner kill a wolf than look at one. And trust a dog to use a dagger like that…

He looked back to the broken body, and shook his head. She wasn't mart of his pack, but he couldn't help but feel a little resentment. The dog couldn't have gotten too far off. Koga could probably track him down and rip him up, just to justify the death of this wolf.

He looked down at the body, and kneeled down again. Before he did that, he had better clean her off just a bit. Give her a decent resting ground. Carefully, he began to rub the dried blood off her face, and clean off some of the dirt. She woulda been pretty, to, if not for the dent in her nose. She must have been at least a few years younger than he was. It was such a pity, to see one so young lying dead.

Quickly and efficiently, he braced his arms into the earth, and began kicking at the ground, quickly excavating a sizable pit. It was demeaning, he knew, but he really couldn't give a crap. He always did this with the dead members of his own pack. If he didn't get there fast enough to help them in life, he would at least make sure they had an honorable death. When the hole was big enough, he stopped, and walked slowly over to the girl. Offering a silent prayer to the Mother Moon, he slowly picked up the girl. There was a slight coughing noise, and bit of new, fresh blood emerged from the girl's lips. Koga gaped in chock, and instantly put her down again. There was no way this girl was alive, was there? She was a youkai, of coarse, but even youkai couldn't withstand injuries like this and live… could they? He quickly drew a short, hunting knife, and put it to her lips. Very occasionally, and only a small amount, the blade fogged. She was breathing, but just barely. How the hell could she be alive.

With a few quick curses, Koga pushed the dirt back into the hole he had made, then turned back to the girl. He had to be careful in carrying her, or else she wouldn't make it. Slowly, he picked her up again, holding her head carefully to the side, so she wouldn't suffocate if she bleed from the mouth anymore. Then he set out again, not running, but walking slowly. Even as he started, it strung him how far he was from the den. He always took distance for granted when he was running… He sighed. This was going to take _forever_.

Aaron's visage appeared, as par usual, out of nowhere. "You called my lord?" He asked, smiling.

Sesshoumaru couldn't help but notice that his smile was just a little different now. For one, it was upside down. The man was hanging by one foot from an overhanging clothesline. Sesshoumaru couldn't possibly understand how the man could always sneak up on him like that. He had just glanced at the clothes line a few moments before, and there had been nothing there. He hadn't smelled Aaron approach, nor heard anything. It was a mystery…

However, besides it being upside down, it was also considerably less of the idiot smile that he normally had. His normal smile was completely unbridled, full out, all cards on the table, happy. This smile was a much more concealing, self satisfied.

However, Sesshoumaru didn't let any of this touch his face. He merely looked on at the human, then sidestepped him. "I am leaving for a few days." He said slowly. "I can only hope to assume that you will have some sort of force in the middle of training by that point."

Aaron expertly changed the foot he was hanging with. "You haven't actually given me any troops to train yet, milord…" He pointed out in a dry voice. "That would be a useful start."

Sesshoumaru stared at him just a moment. "I shall leave recruiting up to you." He said. "You know warfare very well, if I remember correctly."

Aaron nodded. "I've been on a great many battlefields." He commented.

"Good." Sesshoumaru dismissed. "If you can get no one to volunteer, then you have my permission to institute a draft."  
Aaron's smile very quickly changed to his idiot grin. "Do I, milord?" He asked.

"Choose the troops responsibly." Sesshoumaru warned. "In addition, you should have some more forces arriving from the mainland. They should bring a scroll bearing my seal. If you do not trust them, do not let them in the city."

Aaron's eyes narrowed in pleasure. "So you're pretty much leaving me in charge?" He asked.

Sesshoumaru merely shrugged. "If I left anyone else, you would simply bully them into agreeing to anything you wanted…" He said softly. "And I trust you will not make a royal mess of things."

Aaron nodded. "Probably not in the time span that you're gone, anyway…"

"Then you are dismissed."

"I'm already gone."

The Tai Youkai turned around, and sure enough, the human spoke the truth. How did he do that? Placidly, Sesshoumaru turned around, and continued down towards the harbor. The group he was to be traveling with would be leaving soon, and he had better be there when they left. He found it just slightly ironic that he was traveling with InuYasha's companions, when he was in fact on his way to steal InuYasha's own sword. But then again, Vadise promised them a safe trip to Japan, and it would be unpolitical to break Vadise's promise for her…

He arrived at the harbor just in time to see the demon slayer slap at the monk. They seemed to resort to this tactic quite a lot, yet Sesshoumaru still failed to see what it accomplished.

"I was merely asking out of curiosity!" Miroku insisted vehemently, rubbing his face. "I speak the truth."

"Save it." Sango said primly, crossing her arms and turning away form him. The young Kitsune and the Sango's brother were both trying to keep from laughing. Morgan, however, had no such grace. He was laughing so hard that he was choking.

Kiriln herself, who was apparently the victim of the infamous question, was blushing lightly, but keeping a strait face.

Sesshoumaru cleared his throat, and walking into the group. Instantly, Morgan sprang to attention, and reluctantly Kiriln did the same. The other's had the good grace to give him their attention. "All my matters are taken care of." He announced. "We seem to be ready to leave."

"The ship is ready, milord." Morgan assured, and gestured towards the relatively small vessel. "It'll be a tight squeeze, but I'm sure that we'll be able to fit." He cast a sly glance towards the hull. "Assuming your little secretary doesn't eat all the supplies first."

Like a gofer, Rin's head popped up from the die of the boat, and apple stuck in her mouth.

Sesshoumaru blinked, and had to override the temptation to shake his head at the sheer display of caprice. He directed his gaze towards Kiriln. "And you are staying behind?" He asked.

Kiriln nodded. "You need someone to help with the preparations, don't you?"

"That would indeed by useful." Sesshoumaru said. "You will also make sure Aaron does not destroy my city?"

Kiriln raised an eyebrow. "Was that a joke, milord?" She laughed just a little. "I'll keep him in line." She cast a glance at Rin, who was busy eating her apple. "I think she might be rubbing off on you." She said as she brushed by him.

Sesshoumaru didn't respond, but instead began making his way to the ship. "Then let us be off." He said firmly.

Morgan saluted, and quickly hopped over the side of the ship, not bothering to climb up the gang plank. "Alright, ye lubbers!" He called out to Miroku and Kohaku. "Let's get this bird underway!"


	29. Instincts

Whoo! Finally some author's comments! Okay, methinks I've got quite a bit of talking to do!

First of, sorry this took me so long. School just kicked my but, and left me lying on the floor whimpering while it stole my girlfriend. Okay, I never really had a girlfriend to begin with, but you get the Idea. Programming is a lot more work than I gave it credit for. Hehe. OH, and I got a PS2 a little while ago, so that might have had something to do with my lack of concentration. Bad Jax! Playing Kingdom Hearts when he chould have been writing! (Scolds)

Oh! I bring back a character in this chapter that I haven't really used since the first couply of chapters, so you might not remember her that well. If you do, than you get a cookie!

Anywho, onto all those wonderfully patient reviewers who want some comments made to them.

First and foremost, to Time's Mortal Enemy: I'll start with your comment on my chapter with the Inu/Ayame fight, since I never responded to that one. I know that Ayame was pretty OOC, but keep in mind I've never actually seen her in the Anime, nor have I really read any fanfiction with her in it. I tried to keep her as IC as I could, going just on what I was told, and how I imagined her. Even so, I wanted to make her a little more serious than she will normally be in that fight, because of reasons that you will find out later. Let's just say it has something to do with the Dogs/Wolves thing, as well as something personal on her part. Oh, and thanks for the compliment on the fluff. I was scared that it was gonna be too sappy, but I guess not since most people liked it.

And as for the last chapter I wrote, Once again thanks for keeping me on my toes on all the little details that I so often miss. And about the present style words being used in feudal Japan, I was aware that I was doing that a little. I know that they don't actually have words like 'cool' back then, but I'd bet that they had some sort of word that ment roughly the same thing, so I'm paraphrasing. If you wanna get technical about it, everyone in feudal Japan should probably be talking like Kaede, but their not, so I feel a little bit of the right to paraphrase.

And to Ozymandius Jones: Yes, yes! I'm sorry I didn't put any authors notes in the last chapter. I'm a bad, bad, boy. Sigh.

To Valese: I know I've only read chapter one in your thing so far, but I'll try to do more soon. As I said before, schools sorta killing me right now, so I'll try and do more when I get free time. And yes, I like Aaron too. I first threw him in as sort of a afterthought, but now he's one of my favorite characters.

To everyone else who's names I don't feel like typing out: Thanks so much for your support. I know I've promised faster updates, but after two times of failing that promise, I'm just gonna say that I'll update as soon as I can. Hopefully that'll be within a week, but no guarantees. Anywho, Here's the fic! Have fun!

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Vadise was, as usual, watching her pool. It was a trademark of hers, her pool. She could stare into its depths for days and weeks on end, just sitting there watching.

Many speculated on what exactly she was looking at. Some thought that she was looking on things all across the world. Vadise herself found this amusing. She didn't need a _pool_ to see things a long way away. Others thought she was looking into the future. This was, of course, preposterous. Vadise didn't look into the future. There were some things that even dragons shouldn't know.

No, no... She just liked the pool for its contents. Vadise rather liked the inhabitants of her pool. They were tasty. With smooth, easy precision, a single clawed hand darted in and out of the pool, and Vadise held up her wriggling prize with a great deal of satisfaction. Oh, yes... this was a good fish.

She turned around, and promptly spitted the fish on a stick she had already laid out. Now, all she needed was some kindling, and some wood, and a bit of heat. Quickly, before the still wriggling prize could start to turn mushy, she darted out into the surrounding woods. She returned only moments later with a few small sticks in her hands, and two larger logs under each arm. With quick efficient movements, she made a little nest of the smaller stuff, and put the logs to either side of the pile. Now, all she needed was the heat. She casually drew a flint and a long knife out of one of the multiple pockets on her leather jerkin. She had dropped the whole angelic white robe look today, in preference of practicality. The fish were biting today, and she didn't want to get tripped up in all that white finery.

She struck the flint against the knife a few times, creating a shower of sparks that rained down on the dry wood below. Slowly, a little bit of flame crawled up through the thin little thatch of twigs and began rubbing against the thick logs. Vadise grinned whimsically to herself, and inhaled the fresh smoke. Then she coughed. Smoke wasn't a particularly good thing to inhale. She leaned back happily, and shrugged. This was really what life was all about. Enjoying a good fire, and eating a fish. She leaned forward again to inspect her little creation, then gasped. Her fire was dying.

"Hey!" She commanded sharply, an annoyed look crossing her face as the last of the little flames disappeared. "Stop that!"

Reluctantly, the flames obeyed her, slowly creeping up the long logs, and bursting into a rosy fire. That was much better. She took the fish up, cleaned it and gutted it with a thought, and propped it up on the fire.

"And here I was hoping that you would actually do it all natural." A dry sardonic voice said from behind her. "But you had to let me down."

"Took you long enough to get here." Vadise said without even blinking, turning her fish ever so slightly to cook it evenly. "I was expecting you earlier."

"I had some thinking to do..." Atma replied gruffly. "You're pretty lucky I didn't come when I really wanted to."

"And that is because?" Vadise asked, poking at her fish happily, sniffing at it to see if it was done.

"I might have ripped your head off." Atma growled.

One of Vadise's furry cat ears twitched just a little bit. "You might have tried dear, you might have tried. Vocabulary is important."

Atma growled at her just a bit. "Don't underestimate me..." She warned.

Completely ignoring the threat, Vadise plucked her fish out of the fire. "Want some?" She asked, waving it alluringly in front of Atma's face. "Its gooood!"

Atma shook her head once, a very slight movement. Vadise shrugged, and began tearing into the fish happily. "So..." Atma said eventually, "Is it true?"

"Is what true?" Vadise asked around a mouthful of fish. "Clarity is an important part of speech, you know."

"You know exactly what I'm talking about." Atma insisted. "All I want to know is if what Kiriln says is true?"

Vadise took another big bite of fish, and stared at Atma thoughtfully as she chewed. "Kiriln, I can only assume, told you that the Instinct was completely bogus, and that the clan is inevitable falling apart?"

Atma swallowed difficultly, and nodded.

"Well, then, I suppose that she is a little right."

The larger dragon stared at the younger for just a moment. Vadise could feel just a little bit of anticipation coming off Atma. This was really important to her.

"You see, there is such a thing as the Instinct, but it is much more... limited than you think of it." Vadise elaborated, munching happily. "The Instinct, you see, only seems to apply to me."

Atma blinked. "To you?"

The smaller dragon shrugged. "I'm not quite sure why, but I seem to have some sort of compelling effect on most other dragons. They just seem to want to do what I want them too." She chuckled just a little. "Kiriln was actually the first to coin the phrase 'Instinct' for it."

Vadise could feel just a little bit of her heart tremble as she saw Atma's face crumble just a little. "So, you mean that all the belief that I've been working from has been a complete lie?" She asked.

Well, there was just no kind way of putting it, so Vadise simply shrugged. "If you wanna think of it that way..."

Atma stared at the pond for just a moment, her dark eyes unfocused as if looking at something far away. "If you were the focus of our 'Instinct,' then what held us together before you came along?"

Vadise shrugged nonchalantly. "We didn't stay together." She said bluntly. "I'm the one who started the whole 'clan' thing."

Atma took a sudden breath, her shoulders hunching sharply.

Vadise picked the last of the fish off the stick, and tossed it behind her. "Now, the question you have to ask yourself is this:" She told the larger dragon. "Does that mean that keeping the clan together is impossible without me?"

Atma swallowed thickly. "So what do you want me to do?" She asked.

"What do _I _want you to do?" Vadise scoffed. "Atma, the entire reason that I stepped down was because I was tired of people asking me that. Do what _you _want you to do."

Atma inspected the ground for just a little while longer. "I should have known that talking to you wouldn't give me the easy answers." She almost chuckled. "So, you won't help me out?"

Vadise shook her head. "I'm content to just watch." She remarked. "I'll pick my moments to interfere."

Atma nodded, and turned away, sweeping her wings up regally. "Very well..." She said in a formal voice. "I'll do this on my own."

Vadise slowly turned back to where Atma had left. She wasn't even in the forest anymore. She had slipped off to that alternate dimension of hers. Vadise wouldn't mind knowing how to do that. She could think of all sorts of useful things to do with an ability like that. Only about half of them involved fish.

-----------------

"Damn, Koga, what happened to her?"

"I dunno..." Koga muttered, gently placing the girl on the hard stone floor of the den. "I just found her lying in the woods. She was beat up pretty bad."

Ginta leaned down, and sniffed at the girl. "Think she'll make it?" he asked, running his hand along his wild white mohawk. "She seems pretty bad..."

"Can't tell." Koga snarled. "Go get Mika, and bring her in here. She's good with this sort of stuff."

Ginta nodded, and was gone instantly.

Koga sat back on his haunches, inspecting the girl critically. Her condition was pretty much the same as when he had found her. She had bled just a little, but that was about the only sign of life coming from her. That certainly wasn't comforting. He reached forward and cleaned some of the dried blood off of her lips. Koga had to tell himself that her chances weren't good, as much as he hated to admit it.

A scuffling from the outside of the cave told him that help was coming, and he turned around to meet it.

Mika was a young female wolf who was being trained as the pack den-mother. She would eventually be the one to stay home during hunts and look after the pups. She would be learning the healing ways, the different herbs that grew in the forest, all that crap. Well, she was being trained once. The old den-mother had died in one of the bird invasions, so poor Mika was on her own.

She strode into the den, growling lowly to herself. She wore a heavy, leather outfit with pockets all over it. Her short black hair was dirty, and hung in limp hanks around her face. She brushed past Koga in a curt, business-like fashion, and began inspecting the body.

"Damn, Koga..." She muttered, feeling along the girls ribs. "What the hell happened to her?"

"Found her in the woods..." Koga muttered. "It was near the bird's territory, but I didn't smell any birds."

Mika sighed, and shook her head. "Broken ribs." She announced. "A good amount of internal bleeding, but if she's not dead from it by now, then she might manage to live. Don't get your hopes up, though."

"What can you do for her?" Koga asked, crossing his arms.

"Absolutely nothing if you don't go get me some water as fast as you can." Mika said, pulling some herbs and a pistil out of on of her numerous pockets. "Bring me some wood for a fire, too. The water needs to be hot." She waved her hands dismissively, and began to grind a few of the herbs in the pistil. "Hurry up."

Koga sighed, and dashed out of the cave, heading to get the proper things.

Mika shook her head as he left, and turned back to the girl. Damn, she was in bad shape. At least five broken ribs and her spine was probably out of alignment, too. This was way beyond her meager ability to heal. She wasn't sure if the broken ribs were completely out of place, or not, but if they were then how was she supposed to set them? Internal bleeding? How the hell was she supposed to stop that? Apply pressure? That could get awkward. The old den mother could do rudimentary surgeries, but certainly nothing this complex. It was almost a hopeless case.

She finished grinding the herbs, and stuck a patch in her mouth, chewing thoughtfully. She could give her some antibiotics to stop any internal infection, and she could bandage up the girls chest, to keep her from moving her ribcage.

Gods, why did this have to happen now? It was just exactly what she needed to make her day as happy as can be. Well, all she could do was try.

----------------

Life was such an interesting thing. A single life was as fragile as silk. But in an intricate little web, they could hang on like the strongest steel.

By all rights, Ayame should be dead. She had a heavy concussion, five broken ribs, and severe inner hemorrhaging. Nobody was supposed to survive that. And Death should know. She was the incarnation of death, after all.

Death sat cross legged in the wolf den, watching the process with mild curiosity. Mika couldn't see her, of course, nor smell her or even hear her. But Death was there, feeling quite at home.

She wasn't actually here to watch the delicate balance of the young Ayame's life swing back and forth. Such a matter was far too trivial for _her _supervision. After all, she had her little minions of the underworld to do all the grunt work. No, she was here on a job.

The little problem with the souls hadn't been getting any better. No, quite the opposite. More and more souls were disappearing, leaving only still-living carcasses behind. It was a fairly disturbing problem, and one that the _powers that be_ didn't like. So, they had told her to stop it.

Whoever was stealing souls was getting more and more bold, and it was becoming centralized in China and Japan. More and more were disappearing daily. Only a month ago it had been one every week or so. Now it was at least one or two a day. An imbalance of souls would only create problems for everyone.

So, really, watching over Ayame was just a short distraction before the main event occurred. Something big was going to happen here, and soon. Death wasn't quite sure what it was, but she just had a bit of intuition that if she watched close enough, then she'd find something out.

Death trusted her intuition. It had been what kept her alive all these years. Or whatever.

But, while she waited, this would serve to be good enough entertainment. She leaned back against the wall of the cave, and propped her head up against one hand, idly twirling her curving oaken staff in the other.

--------------------

Almost a full hour after starting treatment, Mika leaned back and wiped the sheen of sweat off her brow. She had done just about all she could. The wolf's chest was firmly wrapped, the chewed up healing herbs applied liberally to the bruises, and some stiff herbal medicines force fed down her throat. That was all Mika could really do.

"Any better chances?" Koga asked, leaning against one wall of the den.

Mika shook her head. "Maybe if the old Den Mother was still alive, but I don't know enough to help her any more than this."

Koga spat. "Damn that dog..."

"Dog?" Mika looked up, a slight growl in her voice. "What dog?"

Koga sighed. "The smell of dog was all over the clearing where I found the girl." He muttered. "And I found this on the ground, near her." He held up the long, hooked knife.

Mika stared at the knife for just a moment, before letting out a low, feral growl. "Trust a mutt to use a weapon like that..." She cursed. "Looks like she didn't get stabbed with it though."

Koga nodded. "I was gonna go after the bastard, but then I saw the girl was alive." He chuckled grimly. "You think I could still catch him?"

Mika scowled. "You'd better." She remarked. "If you don't then I will."

Koga smiled. He had been hoping she'd say that. He slowly stood up, and began pacing towards the entrance of the cave. "I'll be back soon." He promised.

Mika nodded. "Careful Koga." She warned. "He's probably dangerous, if he can inflict these kinds of wounds."

Koga shrugged. "There's a bit of a difference between a helpless bitch and me." He said confidently.

"Yeah, well. If you can manage to kill him, at least make sure he can never have pups again for me." Mika called as the wolf prince strode out of the cave.

Koga shook his head as he walked around the waterfall. He would definitely have to go after the dog at some point or another, but he had other things he had to do first. Things like check on the Birds. They were the most immediate threat. Maybe, if they were in really bad shape after that last battle, then he would take some time to go and slaughter the mangy mutt.

With a firm goal in mind, he set out, tearing through the forest like a wild fall wind.


	30. Necromancy

Whoo! Man, it took me frikin forever to get this out. Sorry everybody, I've been having some real trouble lately.

Schools being really hard this year, much harder than I thought it was going to be. Programming I is kicking my butt right now, and calculus isn't too fun right now, either. I got accepted to the NY all-state conference choir, so I'm happy about that, but it makes a lot of extra work for me, so that's just another thing on my plate, along with preparing for Christmas concerts with my local men's choir and a completely different Christmas concert with my high school choir. I'm just really, really busy. Add to that a long running case of really bad writers block, and a major reassessment of what I want to do with my life, and I hope you can see where I stand. Say, umm, if any of my readers out there are Christian, would you guys mind praying for me? Thanks a bunch, guys. I appreciate it.

Anywho, sorry to angst there for just a moment. I'm always thee cheerful, bubbly guy at school, but I can only take so much before I have to let it all out, and you guys just got the brunt of it. I'll try not to throw my problems at you all again.

On a good note, I happen to think that I did very well on this chapter, and I'm about to start in on the Miroku / Sango romance, and going to be stepping the plot up, and starting to fly through this. I think it's dragging on way too long, and I'm going to start making things happen faster. Definitely something I need to work on if I'm going to be a writer.

On some quick comments:

Time's Mortal Enemy: Woot! I'm happy that I finally managed to do a chapter that you couldn't hack to little pieces. Thanks for the honest opinions, and I look forward to seeing your thoughts on this chapter.

Valese: Still sorry I haven't had time to read. I'm a naughty fuzz. I'll try and get to it at some point. L

Tanwen-Whitefire – well, you wanted a summary of Death earlier in the story, so I'll give it to you. As kikyo is walking down a road, she crosses a farmer. The Farmer's ox goes berserk, and falls on him. He dies, meets death, death goes off on a quest. She is, if you'll remember, trying to find out why souls are disappearing. That's pretty much it. She's hanging out in the wolf den cause she thinks something big is going to happen here. You'll see what in this chapter.

To the rest: Thanks for everything. I really enjoy reading your reviews!

Anywho, enough of my ranting! Fic-time!

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"Houshi-Sama…"

"Yes, Milady Sango?"

Sango turned towards him very slowly, eyeing the monk dangerously. "Where exactly is your hand, Houshi?" She asked, her voice almost sugary.

Miroku blinked, and thought about this for just a moment. Little warning sutras were going off somewhere in his head. "Sango," He began, "You misunderstand. You see, I was merely trying to steady myself from that last wave. It was an accide-"

Crunch.

Sango scowled, and rubbed her stinging hand. That stung just a little. She stepped over Miroku's still form, and walked briskly to the stern of the ship. It was a charming little ship. Little benches run up each side of it, providing just enough wood to have the most uncomfortable seating Sango had ever had the privilege of sitting on. Well, it was nice to have some peace and quiet, anyway. Kohaku was up on the front of the ship, with Morgan, and Shippo was attempting to make a new record with one of his little wooden toys. Miroku was relatively disposed of, for the time being, and that left only…

The demon slayer sat down on the uncomfortable bench, and turned her gaze towards the Tai youkai who stood on the opposite side of the ship. He was facing placidly out to sea, gaze never once faltering. The little girl, Rin, was playing at his feet. It looked like she was counting how many planks made up the deck of the ship. Sango shook her head just a little as she looked at the pair. How on earth had that happened? Sesshoumaru had always hated humans, yet here he was toting one around with him like a handbag. It just didn't make sense.

"You find it odd, too?" Came Miroku's voice from beside her.

She jerked, and half slapped the man merely on principle. "Houshi!" She breathed. "How did you?"

Miroku sat down next to her, seemingly oblivious to the still growing slap mark on his face. "I wonder why it is that Sesshoumaru seems to have taken to guarding a human."

Sango blinked. "Guarding? It looks like Sesshoumaru wouldn't give a care what happened to her. "

Miroku shook his head. "No, Sesshoumaru does indeed protect her. Observe." The Monk stood up very suddenly, and walked over to the spot where the girl was playing. "Excuse me, Lady Rin." Miroku began. "What exactly are you doing?"

Sango's training instantly started talking to her. For just a split second, Sesshoumaru stood just slightly higher. His hand dropped down to his side, his head turned just a little, so he could see Miroku and Rin in his peripheral vision, and the claws on his fingers started to glow just a little. Sango swallowed thickly. If Miroku made the wrong move here, he was a dead man.

Rin looked up at Miroku. "I'm counting how many planks there are in the ship." She announced happily.

Miroku nodded. "Oh really? And how many are there so far?"

Rin looked up at him, studying the monk's face for just a second. "You made me lose count!" She cried eventually, just a hint of panic in her voice. "Don't distract me!" Lake a flash, she dashed back to the side of the boat, and began recounting.

Miroku nodded quietly, and returned to Sango's side. "Did you see it?" He asked.

Sango nodded. This was even weirder. Sesshoumaru was not only allowing the girl to be near him, but protecting her to boot? That was just plain… wrong.

A strong swell rocked the boat, and Sango stumbled just a little. Miroku swayed just a little more, and had to steady himself. Sango paused for just a moment, and turned to Miroku for just a moment. "Houshi…"

"I was just steadying myself!"

Whap!

Sango primly walked away from the cringing monk, heading towards the front of the ship.

"Okay, now, ya put the first loop through the second like this, and pull." Morgan was saying, looking over Kohaku's shoulder.

"Like this?" Kohaku asked, holding up an intricately knotted piece of rope.

"Aye." Morgan said, holding up the rope, and pulling on it. "Could be a little tighter, but a very fine first attempt."

"What are you two up to?" Sango asked, crossing her arms as she walked up to the pair.

"Morgan's showing me how to tie knots." Kohaku announced enthusiastically.

"And a mighty fine student young Kohaku is, too!" Morgan crowed, clapping the young boy on the back. "He'll make a fine seaman in no time." Kohaku practically glowed at the compliment.

Sango chuckled. "So, you like your first boat ride, Kohaku?"

The boy nodded vigorously. "Yes, very much!"

Sango smiled and nodded. It was good to see him acting like the boy he was again.

Morgan quickly undid the rope, and told the boy to try again. Then, he slowly sidled up to Sango, and looked out across the boat to the sulking monk. "So…" He muttered. "Are you two… together?"  
Sango choked suddenly, a blush spreading across her face like the bubonic plague. "N-no!" She half sputtered and half yelled. "Of coarse not." Where had _that _come from?

Morgan nodded, and smiled. "Good. That means you're free." He murmured.

Sango blinked very suddenly, realizing what he had just said. "Excuse me?" She demanded, blushing even more if it was possible.

Morgan grinned, and with all the grace and poise of a true gentleman, grabbed her butt.

The air surrounding the boat must have suddenly filled with impending doom, because suddenly all other sound on the ship stopped save the flapping of the sails and the lapping of the waves. All eyes focused on the pair. Miroku had the oddest expression of horror on his face.

Slowly, Sango's brain began working again. Someone was doing something to her. Touching her. In an inappropriate area. It wasn't Miroku. Stop. Rewind. Play. IT WASN'T MIROKU!

Sango's normal reaction to this was an open palmed slap to Miroku's face. Somewhere in the process of forming the open palm, however, her hand twisted into a fist, and diverted sharply lower. The blow landed.

Morgan's eyes widened, and then watered. He slowly backed away from the hunter, crouching down low, and coughing.

Sango rose to her full height, crossed her arms, and glared unmercifully down at the pirate, face flushed with rage.

Morgan rose halfway out of his crouch, still wrapping his arms around his sides. "I thought you said you were free…" He sputtered, his voice squeaking ever so slightly.

Sango emitted a low, feral growl, and stalked away to the back of the boat, crossing her arms, and hunching her shoulders.

Miroku blinked at her as she passed. She had never hit _him _like that… what exactly did that mean?

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Dammit! What the hell was with this place?

Koga dashed behind a rock, and crouched down. What the hell was going on? Where had all these birds come from?

All thoughts of the mysterious dog had fled his mind. Right now, Koga was more worried about pressing matters. There was a bloodcurdling shriek of rage from above, and with a silent oath the wolf jumped out of the way. Just as he landed again, a harpy swooped down, and took a large bite out of the bolder. Dammit, so much for hiding.

He looked up in the sky. At least twenty dark shapes were hovering up there, waiting for a chance to spring. How the hell had so many of them found him at once. He had figured that that last attacked had finished off at least a decent few of their numbers, but it didn't look like it from the way things were going up here. He licked his dry lips, and crouched down, trying to decide whether to take a few out, then bolt, or to not take the risk.

Deciding for him, the birds dropped down, completely surrounding him. "Shit…" he muttered, reaching for the long, steel claws at his belt. "Looks like it's the bloody way." With a sudden howl, he launched himself towards the smallest, slashing across the blue figure on top of the bird, and landing five feet behind the bleeding creature. The second his feet touched the ground, they were moving, carrying him away from the hulking menaces.

The bloodthirsty caws told him that the birds were chasing him, and somehow they were managing to keep pace. He tensed his legs, and drew a little more power from the shards of the Shikon jewel. His pace quickened, and the screeches slowly disappeared behind him. However, as the sounds behind faded, they were quickly replaced by shrieks from ahead.

He slammed his foot into the ground to stop, sending dust flying, and looked up. His stomach turned sharply, and he took a step back. There was no damn way…

At least two hundred birds, no, more than that. It had to be more then five hundred, all shrieking their war cries, and all flapping together in a great cloud of stench and death. Koga took another few step back, and jerked around to see the other buzzards chasing him closing in fast. More must have joined them; at least forty of fifty were soaring at him. What the hell was going on?

He looked back up at the stormy cloud of screeching beasts in the sky, and his eyes widened even further. They hadn't seen him yet. They were heading south. Towards the wolf territory. Towards his territory.

Koga didn't bother swearing. He crouched down, punching his hand against the ground, and willing the power out of the tiny shards imbedded in his legs.

The birds behind him were closing in, screaming madly. He didn't bother waiting, either. He simply twisted around, and launched. With a sudden burst of wind, Koga dashed backwards, twisting in mid-bound, and began sprinting. His feet dug into the ground, sending geysers of rock and dust into the air behind him. He bolted past the onrushing flock, sending them flying in all directions with the winds that flew in his path. He had to get back, _now_.

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Miroku was feeling exceptionally confused. Sango was, as he expected, still furious. Morgan had retreated timidly to the opposite side of the boat, and was making a true attempt to make as little eye contact as possible. Not that Miroku would really blame him. That had really looked like it hurt. He _had _been asking for it, but it was still hard not to take pity on the man.

The odd thing was the reaction. Every time that Miroku groped Sango, he managed to get off with a slap in the face, and maybe a kick. Certainly not a punch, and very definitely not… _there_. Miroku cringed just a little, in spite of himself. It was a mystery. Maybe… just maybe…

He glanced over at Sango. She glared back at him, eyes flashing dangerously.

Maybe not.

Putting the hormonally challenged part of his mind on hold for just a moment, he bent towards another thing that was bothering him.

Sesshoumaru hadn't moved for the entire voyage, his placid gaze still held sharply out to the horizon. Miroku could vaguely make out the slim line that was Japan separating the sea and the sky.

Miroku slowly began to scrutinize. Why exactly was the Tai-youkai with them? He was leaving his precious city to go to the mainland, but why would he do such a thing. Mayhap he was perusing InuYasha again? Miroku certainly hoped not. It would be really nice to be able to know. Maybe he could manage to get something out of the pirate.

Slowly, the monk meandered over to where the pirate was cringing, and cleared his throat softly to announce his presence.

Morgan crossed his arms, and glanced at the monk. There was a slight amount of resentment in his face. "I thought you two weren't a couple…" He muttered.

Miroku blinked, and looked around. "With the lady Rin?" He asked finally, "Well she is a little young, but…"

A bit of the resentment faded from the pirate's face, and he chuckled just a little. "Yeah, well, you'd have to take that one up with his highness Sesshoumaru." He muttered. Then he crossed his arms, and looked over at the seething demon slayer. "Got quite a temper, don't she. I like that in a woman."

Miroku had to nod. The pirate did have good taste.

"I don't get it. If you and that Sango lass aren't a couple, how come you always get off with just a love tap and I have to lose my manhood?"

Miroku blinked. The pirate was mirroring his thoughts almost directly. "Yes, well…" He began, not quite sure how to answer that. "I'm not quite certain either…"

Morgan nodded slowly. Then he snapped his fingers with a grin. "I get it." He muttered. "She must have a bit of a shine for ya, savy?"

"Excuse me?" Miroku asked, not quite understanding the pirate speech.

"She likes you lad." He said, punching him lightly in the shoulder. Miroku half choked. "How else could you get away with all that handling?"

Miroku's mind suddenly began racing. Could such a thing be possible? Certainly, it was an interesting proposition, and one that he couldn't complain about, but it would be grim to jump to conclusions. "I suppose it's possible…" He mused slowly.

Morgan nodded. "It's decided then." He declared. "T'would be a shame to let such a fine lady go to waste, so well se if we can't throw you two together in a life boat or something by the end of the voyage."  
Miroku choked again, and began coughing. "I somehow doubt that that is the most prudent course of action." He said quickly.

"Nonsense!" Morgan laughed. "Take some risks, man! You'll get more out of life."

"I'd prefer to get more out of life by living longer." Miroku commented, holding up both hands.

Morgan stared at him for just a moment, then shrugged. "Fine." He conceded. "But I'll cook something up."

Miroku wasn't quite sure he liked how the pirate said that. However, now was not the time to pursue romantic strategies. Miroku needed some different information. "So," he began. "Do you know why exactly Sesshoumaru is on this voyage?"

Morgan stroked his beard thoughtfully. "I'm not quite exactly sure. I'm more of a delivery boy that go drafted." He sighed. "Near as I can tell, it's like this. Sesshoumaru has some bad blood with some Chinese guy. Menomaru, I guess his name was." Morgan spat. "Well, this Menomaru guy needs a magic sword to make himself more powerful, and Sesshoumaru's going to look for this sword to keep Menomaru from getting it."

Miroku mulled over this for just a moment. "Magic sword…" He muttered, "So you know what the name of the sword was?"

Morgan shook his head. "Didn't catch the name, but there was a lot of talk about Sesshoumaru's brother."

Miroku nodded. Sesshoumaru _was _after InuYasha, then. Miroku nodded slowly. Sango would need to know about this. He glanced over at the demon slayer. She was casually punching the siding of the boat, causing splinters of wood to fall off. Miroku grimaced. Maybe… later.

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Death was growing increasingly impatient. She crossed her arms, and tapped one foot as she waited in the wolves den. She knew something was coming, but what? There was about to be a whole lot of dying here, and where there was dying, there were souls. And there are souls, the soul's thieves will come out to play, and that was exactly what she needed.

Watching the wolf medic, Mika, work on Ayame had gotten boring pretty quickly. The wolf medic knew what she was doing, so the wolf girl was probably going to make it. That is, if any of the wolves here made it. No way of knowing for sure. All Death did know is that she would have work here, very shortly.

There was a sudden exclamation from the outside of the cave, causing Death to look up from her vigil, and cock her head. The wolf prince, Koga, sprinted into the cave, face red and shoulders heaving. His flunkies, Ginta and Hikaku followed him closely, holding him up. "Hey, boss!" Ginta demanded. "What's going on?"

Koga shoved him away roughly. "Gather the pack!" He commanded roughly, "We're leaving!"

Ginta blinked. "Leaving?" He gasped. "Boss, what's going on?"

Koga turned, and spat. "Birds." He seethed. "Tons of them. We have to get out of here before they reach us."

Ginta gasped. "Another attack?"

Koga pushed him again, "Go get the pack, and move them out!" He growled. "We don't stand a chance, so hurry the hell up! Tell them to drop everything, and head south." He whirled around to Mika, stalking over to the medic and her patient. "Is she gonna make it?"

Mika looked up, and gave a half-hearted nod. "Probably, but she's in no condition to be carried anywhere."

Koga cursed softly, crossing his arms. "Hikaku," He commanded. "Go out and help Ginta to gather up the tribe. Herd them south as fast as you can. Me and Mika will catch up."

Hikaku nodded quickly, and dashed out of the cave.

"Can we risk carrying her?" Koga demanded, looking over Mika's shoulder.

Mika bit her lip. "I doubt it." She muttered. "If we took her along, we would have to move fast, and that would definitely mean us jerking her around just a bit." The she-wolf shook her head. "She probably wouldn't make it."

Koga looked up to the roof of the cave for just a few moments, then looked down. "Well, she's lived for longer than either of us thought she would, and she's just dead if we leave her here." Gently, the wolf prince leaned down, and propped the unconscious wolf up with one arm. "Go with the others. I'll catch up."

Death smiled lightly as the Mika nodded, and dashed out of the cave. Koga slowly picked up the girl, and slung her over his shoulder. "Dammit." He muttered, looking around the cave. "Why'd this have to happen now?" Death almost chuckled, in spite of herself. Why were mortals always convinced that she was so very far away? She walked among them, after all.

Casting one final glance around the cave, Koga sprinted out, sending little cracks spreading through the rock with his footfalls.

Death shook her head, and slowly meandered out of the cave. She scowled just a bit, and looked around. Man, they cleared out fast. Death surveyed the abandoned clearing. There were tools and weapons littered throughout the camp. From the looks of things, everyone had just dropped everything and left. There wasn't a single wolf left in the entire vale.

A number of angry screeches caught her ear, and she looked up. Like a furious storm cloud, the harpies were closing in. She nodded. No wonder they had left in a hurry. But one thing remained confused her. There was definitely a large amount of death heading towards this spot, but if all the wolves were gone, then who was going to be dying.

She watched placidly as the birds approached, and crossed her arms. This might get interesting. The birds landed like a swarm of locusts, covering everything in sight with a sudden storm of angry cries and feathers. Death winced just a little as one of them passed right through her, pushing a spear around with its muzzle. The cries of fury only began to increase as the birds flocked. There were no wolves here, and they weren't happy about it.

Death shook her head, and sat back and watched as the show unfolded. They danced on their pudgy, lethal legs, crying angrily at each other. They took to the air, and flew in great circles their hatred for the wolves burning in their calls. They would probably start killing each other pretty soon.

Death chuckled as she watched. Mortals always seemed to do anything they possibly could to meet her, but they seemed surprised when they finally did.

The force of nature didn't really notice the figure walking boldly through the flock of birds until the person was almost right on top of her.

Death blinked for just a moment at the person, cocking her head. Death didn't really see things only in terms of physical bodies. She saw things in terms of the souls inside, too. And for one of the very few times in her entire life, she was looking at someone she didn't recognize. She rubbed her eyes, and blinked once or twice to make sure they were working properly. Nope, still couldn't recognize the person.

The woman was short, with her black hair tied up in a tight bun, and decorated with feathers. She wore a kimono decorated with red splashes of die and ribbon, and in her hand she carried a huge battle fan which she held demurely over her face.

The birds were starting to notice her now, and they slowly turned towards the woman. She smiled red lipstick behind her fan, and snapped it shut with a sharp click. Her eyes were the color of blood. She smiled at the foremost bird, then bowed slightly to it. Even as she came up out or the bow, she snapped the fan open, and brought it up sharply.

Death had to grab her cape as a sudden rush of wind flashed into the valley, roaring like a dragon. The bird closest to the woman was snatched up like a rag doll, and thrown into the cliff with shattering force. With a sudden, fluid motion, the woman brought her fan down again, air swirling around her. "Dance of blades!" She whispered in a voice like steel, the wind around her vibrating with her words.

A little tingle ran down Death's spine as the first few birds were cut down like confetti. Her eyes narrowed as the birds suddenly surged forward, finding a few target for their rage. With a few graceful twists of her fan, the woman sent screaming gust after gust of wind into the mass of feathers, slamming birds against the rock earth and flinging them into the sky like rag dolls. What exactly was going on here?

It was only a few minute until the woman's work was done. Demurely, she raised her fan to cover her face again, and bowed to the fallen beasts. Then, yet another snap of her fan. The closest bird rose once again to it's feet, and began to gurgle softly. Death took an involuntary breath. The bird's skull had a huge dent in it. The thing had no soul. Slowly death turned to look at the woman, and shook her head once.

A necromancer.


	31. Now and Then

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY! I CAN CRY IF I WAN'T TO!

Ahem! Sorry for that random outburst, but it _is _my birthday, and also thanksgiving, so happy thanks-birth-giving-day to me/you! Whoa, sorry guys. I'm high on chocolate pie. Mmmm… pie.

Anywho, I'm happy 'cause I got an… electric razor, a watch, and clothes. sighs I remember the days when I got Action figures for my birthday. But no… now I just get more and more responsibility, heaped on my already sagging shoulders for all eternity until the day I die. Sulks

Anywhatsit, I'm feeling much better now that I was the last time I updated, but I've got a really busy next two weeks, don't expect to much outta me. Thanks for all your support and prayers. Dances cause of good readers

We're back to InuKag again, and I really like this chapter, so I hope you guys enjoy it. 3nj0y.

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What the hell had he been thinking? InuYasha mentally cursed himself over and over as he meandered down the road, limping slightly, just a little behind Kagome.

The girl was tired, InuYasha could tell. She probably hadn't gotten much sleep last night. Probably because of him. Jeez, what had he been thinking? 'I'll never let you leave me!' Is that what he had declared? The hanyou sulked just a little. How lame was that? He had acted like a love struck teen.

He cast a glance up at the girl, narrowing his eyes. Keh, him, in love with Kagome… yeah right. Well, yes, maybe just a little. He smiled lightly as his eyes traced over her. Even tired, she was a sight to see. InuYasha didn't really know what to call those short pants she wore, the ones that shoed off her legs, but he really didn't care either, as long as she kept wearing them. Her hair had seen better days, but InuYasha didn't really care about that, either.

She turned to look at him smiling just a little. There were dark circles under each eye. "You coming, InuYasha?" She asked, her voice sagging wearily.

InuYasha nodded, and quickened his pace, bringing him up beside her.

Kagome nodded at him, and continued walking at his side, matching his pace with faltering steps. "So, how far are we?" She asked.

InuYasha shrugged. "Tired?" He asked.

"Just a little." The girl admitted. "I didn't sleep that well last night."

InuYasha shook his head. "Jeez wench." He muttered. "You can't even sleep right."

Kagome narrowed her eyes, and punched his side. "I was worrying about you, stupid." She muttered. "You're leg was pretty bad last night."

The hanyou scoffed. "Haven't I told you enough that I'll be fine? My body heals faster than yours does!"

The young miko eyed him skeptically. "Then why are you limping?" She demanded. A look of satisfaction crossed her face when InuYasha couldn't respond to that. His leg did still hurt a little. Okay, it hurt with every step, but he wasn't about to admit that. She would be off worrying about him for hours on end, and start nagging him to rest and take it easy. He couldn't take that crap. Unfortunately, he certainly wasn't the best at masking his thoughts.

"I knew it!" She declared triumphantly, whirling around to face him. "You are hurt!" She grabbed his shoulders, and tried to push him to the ground. "Sit down, and let me look at it. InuYasha, completely oblivious from of her pushing, jumped just a little at the sound of the dreaded word that had once ruled his life. He quickly reached up to his neck, checking to make sure the rosary wasn't there, then with a sigh, he grabbed Kagome's wrists, and lifted her up until she was eye to eye with him. "Listen, wench!" He growled. "I'll be fine! I don't need any of your help."

He dropped her again, and kept on walking, trying to limp as little as possible. Kagome sighed, and fell in pace again, seeming to have dropped the subject. But InuYasha wasn't fooled. She was simply using guerilla tactics. It was how she always argued. She would come back again, later, demanding to see his leg again, and so on until the end of eternity, or until she got her way. Whichever came first? The only thing that irked InuYasha more than the process was the fact that it always worked. In the end, she would win, and he would get his leg wrapped up in all those bandage things she always brought with her everywhere. And they would stick to his skin, and itch, and bother him no matter what he did. He shuddered at the thought.

He walked for just a little while longer crossing his arms, and tried to look unapproachable. Maybe she would be merciful, and actually listen to him for once. A bit of pain lanced up his leg. But then again, maybe getting some attention wouldn't be so bad…

It was, as the hanyou predicted, only about five minutes before Kagome turned to him again, and crossed her arms. "Why do you have to be so stubborn?" She demanded. "Your leg obviously hurts, so just let me see it!"

All she got in response was a stereotypical 'keh.' The hanyou's resolve was wavering, though, partially due to the pain that kept racing up his leg with every step, and partially due to his reluctance to piss Kagome off too much. She could be very scary when she was angry…

He paused suddenly, a feint scent drifting into his nose. He felt a little tug in his gut, and looked up, his throat going dry.

Kagome noticed, and turned to him. "Leg hurting?" She asked archly.

InuYasha shook his head, more of the scent spilling into his nose, raging through his brain. He recognized this scent. It put a little catch in his throat. Almost instinctively, he started walking, trying to make his way towards the scent.

Kagome's voice stopped him for just a moment. "InuYasha?" She asked, her voice just a bit softer. "What is it?"

InuYasha licked his dry lips, and turned back for her, inspecting the girl. He couldn't go running off again. Kagome would be hurt… just like she always was. He turned back again towards the path, looking up to where the road disappeared over a rise. Kagome might even run off. She had done it before. Could he really take the time to go through that? Could he really hurt Kagome like that?

The wind changed just a little, bringing the scent even deeper into his senses, sending his heart into a frenzy. He clenched his jaw for just a moment, then whirled around to Kagome. "C'mon!" He said lowly to her. "We have to go."

"InuYasha?" She queried, blinking as the hanyou grabbed her hand and began to drag her off the path.

"C'mon. We gotta hurry." He said, and began dashing across the rice paddies, dragging her behind.

"What is it?" She demanded, as she tried her best to keep up with him.

"I smelled something." He muttered. "Something we don't have time for right now." As he ran, he tried to convince himself that that was the only reason.

They managed across the rice paddies, and began shadowing along the outlying woods, InuYasha going slow enough for Kagome to keep up. The scent was still in his nose, though, and that bothered him. Were they being followed?

InuYasha's ears twitched at some imperceptible sound, and he stopped suddenly. "Get down!" He shouted, shoving Kagome to the earth. He threw himself down as well, just as an arrow sailed through the air between them, and imbedded itself in a tree some twenty feet beyond. Slowly, the bark of the wood began to melt, and dribble down the trunk.

InuYasha slowly got to his feet, and shifted himself in front of Kagome. Behind him, the girl slowly got to her feet, and stood up behind him. A little gasp caught in her throat when she saw the attacker.

Sable tresses framed a pale, confident face. Bored, dark eyes stared at them from the center of that face. The loose, red and white garb of a miko framed a lithe, slim frame. "What is the matter, InuYasha?" A cool, arrogant voice echoed, with just a hint of feminine charm. "I would have thought that you would have been glad to see me…"

InuYasha blinked slowly, his heart fluttering despite itself. "Kikyo…" he breathed.

The woman smiled lightly at him, slowly taking a step towards the hanyou. "You seem unhappy to see me, InuYasha…" She murmured, her voice blowing from between her lips like a breeze.

InuYasha could only stare as those lips moved. His throat constricted just a bit, his fists tightening until his claws dug into his palms. Gods… he had forgotten… he had forgotten how beautiful she was. The scent was intoxicating, filling his nostrils like a drug. His breath was coming in ragged gasps, and that there was blood on his knuckles.

"Well, InuYasha?" Kikyo breathed, slowly taking a few steps around him. InuYasha remained frozen. She chuckled just a bit, taking her gaze from him to Kagome. "You are still traveling with her…" She whispered. InuYasha turned his gaze. Kagome was also staring at the woman, her mouth hanging slightly open. The hanyou slowly shifted his weight, moving in between Kagome and Kikyo again.

The adult miko chuckled softly. "You protect her so well, InuYasha…" Kikyo said softly. "You used to be that protective of me, if you will remember."

InuYasha swallowed thickly, and took a deep breath. "What do you want, Kikyo…" He demanded, his voice gritty.

Kikyo almost chuckled. "What do I want?" She asked, still circling him. "You ask that so harshly. What happened to the gentleness you once held towards me?"

InuYasha cringed just a little, memories flooding back of all the times he had spent with the woman resting in his arms: the lithe, almost fragile weight against his chest. "I don't have time for this, Kikyo." He rasped, still moving to stay between her and Kagome.

"Really?" The miko whispered in a voice that would put sirens to shame. "You never would have said that before."

"This isn't before Kikyo." There was a little wrench in the hanyou's heart, somewhere. "This is after."

For just a moment, Kikyo's eyes narrowed dangerously, and her fists tightened at her sides. "You would cast me off like a used cloak, InuYasha?" She demanded, her voice stiff.

InuYasha bit his lip, and looked down.

"Fine." This time Kikyo's voice was steely. She slowly lowered her gaze to his leg. "You are hurt."

InuYasha couldn't keep the involuntary 'feh' from coming from his throat. Kikyo smiled for just a moment at him, then she gestured her hand, and InuYasha heard a high, cut off squeal from behind him. Eyes widening, he whipped around to Kagome. A small dome of blue encased the girl, she looked around frantically, pounding on the surface of it.

InuYasha let out a feral growl, and slammed one fist down on the barrier. Stars went through his vision as his hand bounded back, scorched. "Kikyo." He seethed, this time uttering it like a curse. He whirled around. "Let her go!"

The miko merely shook her head. "Or what?" Kikyo murmured. "Would you strike me down, InuYasha?"

The hanyou let out a low, growl, promising bloodshed. "Try me." He rumbled, his hand straying to the Tetsusaiga

For just a moment, Kikyo looked almost shocked. Then her cold, earth brown eyes narrowed, and she scowled. "So, you have fallen so far away from me?" She demanded. "So be it." She gestured fiercely, and InuYasha was suddenly thrown back against the tree. She sneered at him just a bit, her pretty features marred with distaste. "Rest assured, InuYasha. I shall send Naraku to his grave, and then you and I will go to Hell together." She scowled at him once more, and began to turn away.  
InuYasha stood up, wiped his sleeve across his face. "Kikyo!" He called after her.

Kikyo froze, and turned her head, her profile etched across the rolling scenery. InuYasha took another stiff breath. The perfect arc of her nose and the pert fullness of her lips beckoned him, calling him to come and take her in his arms. He took a deep breath, and glanced to his side, where Kagome had her hands and face pressed up against the barrier, her own pretty features caught up in fear.

He turned back, and narrowed his eyes. "Set her free." He demanded, his voice rough.

Kikyo sneered. "She is a miko. Let her free herself." She whirled around again, and began to stride away.

With grim determination, InuYasha began to unsheathe his sword. "Kikyo…" he growled warningly. A sudden cracking sound ripped though the air, and both InuYasha and Kikyo stopped, turning towards the blue barrier that held Kagome.

Her hands were still pressed against the blue shell, but this time her face was contorted in anger. With slow, deliberate force she began to push against the glowing blue energy. Kikyo took a step back, her mouth gaping just a moment. Another crack shot out form the barrier, and it pulsed just a little. Kagome tensed, and pushed harder. A third crack, and the barrier shattered like a piece of glass.

The young girl fell forward on her knees, breathing hard. Slowly, she staggered to her feet, and her hands strayed to the quiver of arrows hung over her shoulder. Her eyes focused sharply on Kikyo, her mouth caught up in an angry snarl.

Kikyo gawked for just a moment, then regained her composure. "My, my…" She remarked. "You might have power, but have all the skill of a mere child." She whirled around, and began to slowly stride away. "We shall meet again, InuYasha." Kikyo commented. As she gently walked away, she cast a glance back at InuYasha. Her eyes narrowed, her scowl deepened, and she disappeared into the hills.

InuYasha closed his eyes tightly, and shoved the Tetsusaiga back in his sheath. His jaw tightened, and he turned around suddenly, a growl forming in his chest.

Kagome collapsed to he knees, breathing hard. "InuYasha…" She whimpered, eyes melting like chocolate in the sun.

The hanyou scowled, the growl getting louder. "C'mon wench…" He rumbled, pulling her up by one arm, but not too roughly. "We gotta get going." With a quick efficient yank, he threw the trembling girl over his back, and began walking back towards the path.


	32. Good news

Merry Christmas, everyone! 

For a special holiday treat, I'm giving you what is undoubtedly the fluffiest chapter I have EVER written! Uweeheeheheheeehee….

Anywhatever, I'll respond to a few reviews, then get back to ya!

Gossa: Yes, yes, it's Kikyo again. Don't worry, she's pretty important in this fic, so we'll be seeing a bit more of her. Sorry.

Tanwen Whitefire: Cliché? Drat, I tried not to make it to cliché. Och, well. You liked it, so that's what's important. Hehe…

TaintedInuShemeeko: Yay! I've got a fan girl. Or boy. I'm not sure which, but it really doesn't matter. Thanks very much for the support.

RobinofYJ: Inu hasn't quite chosen yet, but it won't be to long now. He's getting closer with every chapter.

Rayame325: Yay! You can review! I know what you mean about the server. was funky for a while there. Thanks for the support.

Valese: Yaya, happy birthday-four-days-before-mine! Kagome will be fine, I'm sure. Just read the chapter, and I think you'll be happy.

Jadere: Yippy skip! I have a little nagger again. I missed you! Hehe, thanks for coming back! As a reward, I'll give you a nice little update to read. updates Oh, and 'sweat pea'? _Sweat pea? _No comment on that. ;)

Ohiowriter: Yay! A new reviewer. Welcome to the fold, young padawan, and thankies for the support.

Time's Mortal Enemy: Yeah, yeah, I know I had a few little spelling errors. Sorry about that. Anywho, if you love interaction between Inu and Kag, well then you'll love this chapter. Bweheeheheeeheee. Anywho, here ya go.

Enjoy, everbuddy.

* * *

Quiet. Quiet is a blessing. It's when you're studying for a test, and your mom just chased your little brother out of your room. It's when you get off the school bus after being surrounded by millions of screaming third graders. It's when you take a walk among the falling cherry blossoms when they're in full bloom.

Silence. Silence is a curse. It's when you scream at your mother, and she says nothing, leaving your words echoing in silence. It's when your best friend slaps you and walks away, and you can't think of anything to call back. It's when you are alone in bed at night after a parent has died. It's that time where you would sell your very soul just to have a cricket to start chirping off in the distance.

But a cricket wasn't there. It was never there.

There was only the endless _crunch, crunch, crunch_ of _his _steps echoing just a little in front of her. A million little questions wriggled through Kagome's mind as she walked, eyes dropping to the ground right in front of her.

Why? Why had he done it? He loved Kikyo… it was written all over his pained expression. Why had he chased her off like that? Why had he defended her so strongly? She could still remember InuYasha's steely face, placid with determination as he led her away from the path: away from the path to the one he loved. The panicked, almost fearful look in his eyes when he had turned to see her encased in a barrier. The fury in those molten, golden orbs of his when he had whirled to face Kikyo. Even now, the raging storm brewing deep beneath his fair features made all the questions brewing in her quell in fear of what they might bring on.

InuYasha walked ahead of her, shoulders hunched, and arms swinging dangerously at his side. With every step, he limped ever so slightly on his left foot. He must have completely forgotten to pretend that it didn't hurt. Somehow, in the midst of all the confusing rushing around in her mind, that was the only fact that made it to the center of her brain. It came rushing out of her mouth in the form of a very soft giggle. One of the hanyou's ears instantly wriggled around to face her. Then, like one guard alerting the other to a prisoner's escape, the other swiveled too. "What is it?" The half demon muttered softly, a growl in his voice.

"You're still limping." She remarked ever so smartly.

The hanyou froze, pausing for just a moment. Much to Kagome's relief, he actually chuckled just a little bit. "Damn, you're persistent." He muttered, and kept on walking, making no attempt to disguise the limp.

Kagome took the bait. "Well, if you'd just let me take a look at it…"

"No way." The hanyou insisted. "I'm fine."

"Are not." The young miko countered.

"Are too."

"Why are you so stubborn?"

"Why are you so annoying?"

"Well, if you'd just let me look at your leg, I wouldn't be!"

"I said I'm fine!" InuYasha whirled around to face her.

Kagome leaned so close that their faces were almost inches apart. "Then let me look!"

InuYasha rolled his eyes, and crossed his arms. "Fine." He muttered.

Kagome blinked. "What?" Had he just… agreed?

InuYasha crossed his arms, and sat down on the side of the path. "You said you wanted to look, so go for it."

The miko blinked, and did a double take. She hadn't actually expected that to work. She had been more hoping for a good argument to last for a few hours that would bring him out of the slums. Oh, well… she _had _gotten what she asked for, after all. She knelt down next to him on her knees.

InuYasha kicked out his hurting leg, and lifted up the baggy leg of his hakama. "See, I'm fine!" he said, without even looking.

Kagome blinked at the leg, mouth hanging open just a bit. "Inu…" She breathed softly. The leg was marred, right across the back of the knee, with a long, red looking slash. Kagome winced just a little, averting her eyes from the crusted blood. "InuYasha." She said, her voice wavering just a little.

InuYasha looked down, and his eyes widened just a little at the sight of the cut. Just as quickly as it was there, the expression disappeared, and her spat. "Keh! I'm fine, wench!" He snarled, trying to throw his hakama leg back down.

Kagome caught the cloth, and lifted it back up. "Are you a complete idiot?" She demanded at him, snarling right back in his face. "It's infected! Do you wanna live the rest of your life as a cripple? Now shut up for a minute and let me clean it!"

InuYasha, slightly taken aback by the outburst, merely let out a 'keh,' and nothing more.

Kagome leaned over to the backpack, and grabbed the little med-pack out of the front pocket. "Now hold still. This'll sting." As she worked, gently cleaning the wound and ignoring the hanyou's pained winces, her mind slowly began to tune out, and wander here and there. Inevitably her mind wandered back to the encounter with Kikyo.

Why had he tried to get away from Kikyo like that? Why had he chased her off? Why, dammit? Was it… because of… herself?

The wound was clean, and she quickly reached for a bandage, noticing that her hand was trembling slightly. With smooth motions, she placed the gauze over the wound, and began wrapping it with the clean white bandage. She chewed her lip as she wrapped, mulling over the encounter.

"Kagome…" InuYasha muttered.

"What?" She asked, not looking up.

"Your hands are trembling." The hanyou whispered.

She looked down, and saw it was true. Her hands, loosely grabbing the ends of the cloth bandages, were shaking wildly.

"What's wrong, Kagome?"

She looked away. "Nothing." She muttered, surprised at the tremble in her voice.

A clawed finger caught her chin, and lifted her eyes to his. Kagome blinked numbly as a small bit of water ran down her cheek. It took her just a moment to realize that it was a tear. InuYasha's amber eyes narrowed angrily, and his hand shifted till he was grabbing her jaw firmly. "What's wrong?" He demanded.

Kagome turned her head away, embarrassment turning her cheeks red. It was no big deal. Why was she so worked up? After all, all he had done was chase away his old love. For her. She bit her lip as she felt another tear roll down her cheek.

"Kagome…" InuYasha growled threateningly. He grabbed her hand, and lifted the bandaged finger to his face, looking at it like a hawk. "Are you hurt?"

Kagome jerked her hand away, and looked up at him through the corner of her eyes. "Why?"

InuYasha blinked, and withdrew his hand. "Why what?" He demanded gruffly.

"Why did you chase her off?"

InuYasha glanced at her. "Feh!" He scoffed, grabbing the ends of the bandage and tying them off himself. "You're the one who broke her barrier."

The young miko glared up at him. "Stop playing InuYasha." She commanded. "You tried to avoid her, you tried to yell her off, and you even threatened her. Why?"

InuYasha took a sharp breath, and rose to his feet. "I told her that. I didn't have time to mess with her right then. We have to find Miroku and Sango, remember. Besides, I was hurt, as you keep on reminding me."

Kagome's eyes narrowed, and she rose slowly to her feet. Being busy had never stopped him from running off to see her before. Neither had being hurt, or any concern for Miroku or Sango. That couldn't possibly be the reason. That wasn't the reason. Somewhere, deep down inside, it hurt too much to think that it was. The miko felt a few more tears begin to form on her face.

InuYasha spat, and crossed his arms. "Dammit, wench. Stop crying."

But she couldn't. She didn't know why. She was confused, she was tired, and something deep inside was hurting. Tears just kept coming.

Snarling, the hanyou threw his arms up in the air. "Jeez, I can't win with you. I run off to see Kikyo, and you go all ballistic on me, and for once I try to avoid her, and you end up crying. I don't get women."

Kagome looked up at him, some of the hurt fading. "Is that it?" She asked timidly.

InuYasha glanced at her, looking suddenly nervous. "Is what it?"

Rubbing a tear from one of her cheeks, she took a step forward. "Did you try to drive her off for me?"

"No." The response came instantly, far too quickly.

The hurt disappeared a little more. "Didn't I tell you last night? You're a lousy liar."

InuYasha glared at her. "Okay, fine!" He crossed his arms. "Maybe I did try and drive her off to keep you from getting upset. So what, big deal!"

"But you never did that before."

The hanyou rolled his eyes. "What, so I have to always act the way I used to now?"

"But you love Kikyo!" Kagome exclaimed.

InuYasha paused for just a moment, then leaned down towards Kagome. "Listen, wench." He hissed. "I loved Kikyo. I love Kikyo. I always will love Kikyo, okay?" He turned around. "Gods, it's like I can't love two people or something."

Kagome froze.

InuYasha froze.

Slowly, he turned, his expression the same of a criminal who just admitted to the crime. Slowly, his face warped back into the angry, standard hanyou scowl. "Just…" He growled. "Hurry up. I wanna get to the shoreline tomorrow." With that, he continued to walk, stalking angrily down the path.

Kagome waited just a moment, hands clasped in front of her chest. She looked down on the bandage on her finger, and then back up. The hurt was gone, replaced by a warm little fuzzy feeling. She slowly resumed walking too, not saying anything.

Quiet. Quiet is a blessing. It's when you're studying for a test, and your mom just chased your little brother out of your room. It's when you get off the school bus after being surrounded by millions of screaming third graders. It's when you take a walk among the falling cherry blossoms when they're in full bloom.

It's when you just got told something so great that every worry on your mind melts away, and you can't speak.

No words came to Kagome for a very long time, but she found herself humming a random, nondescript tune as she walked, just a few paces behind InuYasha. She felt like a giddy little ten year old was running circles around her stomach. Had he really admitted what she thought he had? Love? An almost crazed grin spread across her face, and she giggled despite herself. This was… really cool. Just… wow. Love? Had he really said the word love?

After another few miles worth of hiking, the hanyou stopped, and lifted his nose to the sky. A few sniffs, and he shrugged. "We're pretty close to the ocean." He muttered. "We'll camp here, and look for a way to cross tomorrow."

Kagome shivered just a bit as a cool gust of air wandered across the grassy knolls. The ocean must be close enough that it was cooling things down. She hugged herself instinctively. "Can we make a fire, then?" She asked hopefully.

InuYasha raised one eyebrow at her. "Cold?"

"Well, excuse me for not having superhuman resistances to really cold air." She muttered, hunching her shoulders as another breeze pulled at the raven strands of her hair.

Scoffing, the hanyou turned towards the woods, and began to head off. "I'll go get some firewood." He muttered, pulling out the Tetsusaiga loosely, and throwing it over his shoulder. "Get some food out."

As he disappeared into the woods, Kagome flumped to her knees at the side of the road, and slung the heavy backpack off her shoulders. She hummed a little ditty as she rummaged for a few packages of Ramen, and snatched up a few bottles of water to cook with while she was at it. It was amazing the changes a single word could make. _Love._ Even the sound of it made her feel giddy.

Of course, he still loved Kikyo, but that didn't really matter. Let him love the dead miko. What difference did it make? Did she really ever expect him to stop loving her? Heck, would he even be the man she thought he was if he stopped loving her? It didn't matter. As long as Kagome had a place in his heart, she could be happy.

* * *

InuYasha leaned back against the soft grass, picking his teach with a chopstick. "Not bad, Kagome…" he muttered, belching loudly.

Wrapped deep in the depths of her sleeping bag, huddled as close to the fire as was humanly possible, Kagome smiled at him. "A compliment, InuYasha?" She asked. "That's so unlike you."

One of the hanyou's eyebrows went up. "Don't push your luck, wench." He threatened. "I didn't say it was good. It just wasn't as bad as normal."

Kagome scowled at him. He still had the 'wench' thing going on. Idly, she wondered if he would ever stop calling her that. Most of the cognitive ability, however, was obsessed about how very cold she was. The temperature was dropping like mad, and her sleeping bag was quickly becoming obsolete. Maybe she could manage to distract herself with some conversation. "Say, InuYasha?"

"Eh?" One of the hanyou's ears perked.

"What are you going to do about her? Kikyo, I mean."

The hanyou sat up, and stared at the slowly dying fire. "I dunno…" He admitted. "She says that she belongs in hell, and has told me more than once that she wants to take me there with her."

A little chill ran down Kagome's spine, not just because of the drop in temperature. Hell didn't sound like a very nice place. "Do you think you want to go?"

"To hell?" The hanyou almost chuckled. "Not particularly." He shook his head. "I dunno what I'm going to do. She really doesn't belong here, anyway. She… died a long time ago."

"But you love her." Kagome interjected.

The hanyou scoffed. "Oh, that's just great. Now you want me to go to hell with her."

Kagome got just a little defensive. "I didn't say that!" She declared. "I just… umm…" She pondered off, wondering exactly what she had been trying to say. "You can't just… let her go, can you?"

InuYasha stared at the fire again. "I never said I was gonna." He muttered. "I just don't know what I am going to do about her yet. But I don't think that eternal suffering is a very good way to spend quality time with her, either."

Kagome nodded. "Good point."

InuYasha sighed, and rose to his feet. "You need to get some sleep," he commanded. "Go to bed."

Obediently, Kagome leaned back, and curled herself up around the fire, propping her head up against some clothes from her bag. Almost instantly, despite the cold, Kagome began to feel lethargy take over, and her eyes drooped. It was only when she was nearly asleep, a quarter hour later, that a strong gust of wind tore across the path, throwing the warm sleeping bag from her shoulders. Instantly freezing, the girl whimpered, and struggled to wrap herself once again in the warm confines of the cloth.

"Damn, wench." InuYasha's voice rang from above her. "You really are pathetic."

Kagome glared up at him, and stuck her tongue out, still grabbing at her sleeping bag. He sat up in a tree, smirking down at her. "Need some help?" He demanded. Before she could even respond, he dropped down next to her, and scooped her up, sleeping bad and all.

"InuYasha…" She whined. "Lemmee sleep."  
The hanyou only chuckled in response, and leapt again, eliciting a squeal from Kagome as she instinctively scrabbled to wrap her arms around him. He landed on the thick branch again, and quickly reclined, positioning Kagome so that she was leaning against him, and wouldn't fall. He spread out his red, fire-rat haori, flung it over her as an extra buffer against the heat. "Better?" He demanded.

Kagome blinked once or twice, her face practically bursting into flames. But then again, her head leaning against his chest did seem really nice. And she was warm, too. Maybe this wasn't… so… bad…

And then she was asleep.


	33. Found them

Hello my faithful slaves. I mean fans. Sorry.

Anywho, I haven't updated this in a while because I started another AU fic called Hanyou.EXE. So check that out. After this my updates'll prolly be divided between this and that.

Anywho, Got some quick responces for you, then you can read the chapter.

Tanwen-Whitefire: Thanks for the compliments. Hehe, merry (very late) xmas.

Gossa: Yeah, I thought about having them kiss, but decided against it. It would have messed up the pensive mood.

Ozymandius Jones: Gah! Havn't E-mailed you in forever! (cries) Sorry, I'm a horrible friend. ANywho, thanks for the comments.

Houshi Paradox: Hehe, welcome to ! We're a happy band of brothers. Actually mostly sisters. I think I'm actually the only guy to write IY fanfiction. Like, EVER!

Cara the Mord Sith: Yeah, I had to make him admit it somehow, and IY would never just come out and admit that he loved her, so I decided to make it an accident.

Rayame325: Well, no, eternal damnation tends not to make for a touching reunion. I dun wan Inu to go to hell with Kikyo, so he's not gonna.

Valese: Throws hands up in the air Yay! Another review from Valese! Thankies for the compliments.

Everyone Else Who Reviewed: Thanks for the comments! I love you all! Hugs

Anywho, if you have any questions, feel free to E-Mail me! 

And on with the little fic:

* * *

Given her profession, it was rather ironic that Death had such a very weak constitution. Zombies were, if anything, one of her least favorite of the undead entities. Vampires were okay. Well, at least they groomed, and they looked decent enough for the most part. Liches weren't that bad. They at least had some class, after all, and at least had the sense to put themselves back together after they were resurrected. Zombies, however, were just plain nasty, no matter what they were made out of…

The necromancer had done her work, and now the vale was filled with the croaking cries of the slaughtered birds. The nauseating stench hung in the air like a freshly won battlefield. Death leaned against one of the rock faces of the cliff, and stretched her head back, trying to clear it.

She leaned forward again, head not swimming so much anymore, and started making her way through the rotting corpses. This had turned out to just be a waste of time. She was looking for a soul thief, not a necromancer. A mere zombie maker wasn't even her field. That was for humans to mess with, not her.

"Wind girl is stupid, yes?"

Death stopped, and turned around, crossing her arms. More people?

Two women had appeared in front of the necromancer, arms crossed. Death raised one eyebrow, and crossed her arms. They looked Chinese, but their souls were odd. They smelled all wrong, as if they weren't quite human souls, but not quite anything else either.

The necromancer lifted up the large fan to cover all of her face but her blood red eyes. "Whatever do you mean? I fulfilled my end of the bargain."

The blue haired woman spat on the ground. "Wind girl knows nothing." She cursed. The one with purple hair nodded. "Out master has no use for dead beasts." She pointed out. "Without the living souls, these birds are useless."

Death raised an eyebrow. That was certainly more like what she was looking for.

The necromancer shook her head, and chuckled. "I did my work." She said. "It isn't my fault if you two were late. It was your job to get the souls, and I got the bodies afterward. Just because you were too dense to make it on time doesn't mean that I should miss out."

The blue haired one reached forward and grabbed the necromancer by the neck, holding her up. "Listen, witch." The purple haired one mused. "You are here because your master wants to be friends with my master. That means that we need to get along. And that means that we call the shots, okay?"

The necromancer spread her fan, and snapped in around the blue haired woman's arm with a crunch. "My orders come from Naraku, and he says that if your master can't keep up, then I can leave you in the dust."

The purple haired one crossed her arms. "I certainly hope that you will give us the same expectation, then."

The bloody eyed woman chuckled. "If we didn't think that Menomaru was capable of that, then we wouldn't be interested in him, would we?" With a smooth motion, the flung the blue haired woman's hand from her throat, and sent a whirl of air around her. "If you please, I need to be going. Better luck next time." With a flick of her wrist, the birds all began rising into the air, shedding crimson stained feathers as they rose. The necromancer covered her face with her fan demurely again, and disappeared in a gust of wind.

Death smiled just a bit, and nodded her head. Menomaru… that was definitely a name that meant something to her. His presence would certainly explain enough. Now she had a target… all that was left was to take it out.

* * *

"So, why are we doing this again?" Sango asked, staring across the tiny little lifeboat at Miroku.

The monk shrugged. "Morgan told me that the sun would be setting soon, so he wanted us to go ahead to set up a camp on the beach while he got the ship ready to be anchored for a while."

"Okay," Sango pulled on the oars hard, propelling their little craft hard across the water. "But why us? Why not you and Kohaku, or something?"

Miroku knew at least one of the answers to that. Morgan had joked about throwing him and Sango in a boat together, but he hadn't actually expected the pirate to make good on the threat. The monk wisely decided to refrain from mentioning that one, however. "Well, if you think about it, he probably needed Kohaku to stay behind. Morgan's been showing him everything there is to know about that boat, so I wouldn't be surprised if the boy would actually be a help."

Sango's eyes narrowed. "I'm not sure I like how much time Kohaku is spending with that pirate." She muttered. "You would think they were best friends the way they're acting towards each other."

Miroku nodded. "They do seem to be getting close, but certainly there are worse people for the boy to take after." The monk shrank down just a bit as Sango leveled him a dangerous glare. In retrospect, that hadn't been the wisest thing to say, particularly given the little incident earlier that morning. "Of course, there could be much better, too." He added meekly.

Sango snorted, and threw herself into rowing the boat. The sound of the oars churning the heavy water echoed over the waters with the regularity of a pendulum. A thought finally poked at Miroku's mind, and his lips moved before he could stop them. "Well, he might have sent you because of what you did to him earlier." The monk knew that he had made a mistake the moment he said it.

One of the oars came up, and smacked him hard across the head, knocking him to the side. "Sorry, Houshi-Sama, I didn't hear you."

Miroku rubbed his ringing head, wincing painfully. "Quite alright, lady Sango." He muttered. He quickly decided that he wasn't going to speak again for just a little while. He leaned back in the boat and began rubbing his temples trying to clear his head.

The playful slap of the water against the hull of the tiny craft and the steady sounds of the oars dipping into the water cleared his mind, and he slowly began to plot. Sesshoumaru was after InuYasha, which meant that they needed to find the hanyou as fast as possible. Now, knowing InuYasha, him and Kagome were either looking for jewel shards, or back at Kaede's village. Knowing Kagome, however, her and InuYasha were probably out looking for them. So, their best bet was probably to head strait for the village. So the only problem was getting there before Sesshoumaru…

"Miroku?" Sango asked, between oar strokes. "Do you think that Sesshoumaru's after InuYasha?"

"I'm fairly sure he is." Miroku stated, crossing his arms. "Morgan seems to think so, anyway."

"We should find InuYasha as fast as we can then."

Miroku nodded. "Now that I think about it, maybe that is the reason we are the ones being sent." Sango looked up, cocking her head. "Think about it," Miroku pointed out. "If we are the ones to set up camp, then we won't be leaving, with Kohaku still on board."

Sango stopped rowing for just a moment, and eyed him suspiciously. "I wouldn't leave, but what's stopping you?"

Miroku raised one eyebrow, and put on a charming smile. "Milady Sango, surely you don't think I would leave you, do you?"

Sango half choked, and looked up at him blushing. "Well…" She sputtered, at a loss for words. She turned away, trying to think of something to say.

Slightly satisfied with himself, Miroku rubbed his chin. Maybe Morgan did have something to this lifeboat plan. Miroku grinned inwardly. Now that the mood was set, maybe he could help things along. He slowly reached forward.

Sango turned around again, having regained her composure just a little again… only to see Miroku reaching out towards a more sensitive area of her anatomy. She blinked at the monk just a bit, then looked over the side of the boat. It was getting shallower, and they were only about thirty feet off from the coast. "I think we're close enough to the beach that someone should drag us in, Houshi-Sama." She remarked coldly.  
Warning lights started going off in Miroku's head just before Sango's foot contacted firmly with his face. He pitched backwards, his arms flailing wildly. With a splash, Miroku disappeared under the surf for just a moment, before breaching the water like a whale, spewing mist everywhere.

Sango grinned at him, and crossed her arms. "Well, I was going to do it myself, but since you're already wet, you can drag us to shore.

Miroku shrugged while treading water, and beamed back at her. "But milady Sango…" He gasped. "The water is still just a little too deep for me to touch, and my robes are so heavy." He reached one hand up and grabbed the edge of the boat.

The demon hunter's eyes widened. "Houshi…" She hissed threateningly. "Don't you dare? Kirara's in here."

"Sorry, lady Sango. I can't hear you." Miroku pulled down, until he was level with the side of the boat, and levered himself up.

"Houshi!" Sango shrieked in panic as she, along with the rest of the boat, tipped over with a tremendous splash.

She emerged from the water, hair plastered to her head, growling softly. Miroku swam over, and beamed at her. "My apologies lady Sango. I didn't know the boat was that unstable." He said, with a wane smile.

A low growl emerged from deep in her throat, and grabbed the soaked front of the monks robe. "Milady Sango…" He started.

_Splash._

Sango held him under for what seemed to be a satisfactory amount of time before letting him go and looking up. Kirara floated about a foot above the waves, eyes narrowed slightly. "Any chance of getting a ride to shore?" She asked.

The Fire Cat raised her nose primly, and began trotting towards the shoreline.

Sango sighed, and kicked off the surfacing Miroku, beginning to swim towards shore.

"Sango, wait." The monk whined after her. "My robes are heavy…"

"You can swim, can't you?" Sango called back, not turning around.

With a little pout, Miroku began to flounder his way towards the shoreline as well.

* * *

By the time Miroku walked, dripping wet, up the sandy beach, Sango was attempting to gather some driftwood into a pile, and light it up. She glanced over at the still soaking Kirara, and sighed. "You know, this would be a lot easier if you would just come over here and light this for me."

The fire cat glanced at her, and then curled up in a little ball and went to sleep. Sango sighed, and went back to trying to get the fire started. She had always been bad at using flints. It probably came from a life of just using Kirara as a little lighter with feet. A quick crack of the two stones got nothing but a few tiny sparks that went out before they even reached the fuel. It probably didn't help that she was still rather damp.

Miroku made his way up to the makeshift fire pit, making wet, drippy slapping noises with every step. With a heavy sigh, he shook himself, and sat down on the sand.

The demon slayer simply ignored him, continuing to crack the stones together with silent precision, not even growling when she continued to meet little to no success.

"Perhaps you would like to let me try, Sango?" Miroku asked after watching her for a moment.

Sango glared at him over her shoulder, and struck the flints together again, this time getting only one piddly little spark. "And what would a monk know of starting fires?" She demanded, just a little offended. If she wasn't going to be able to start this fire, no one would.

Miroku only smiled at her, and crossed his arms. "You seem to forget that I traveled alone for quite a while in my pilgrimage before I stumbled across InuYasha and Kagome, Lady Sango." He said patiently.

Sango scowled, knowing that he was right. "I can manage just fine." She said finally.

The monk shrugged, and rose to his feet. "Very well," He commented, "I shall go and make sure there are no hostile beings nearby."

Then Miroku did something that Sango definitely did not expect. The man reached down to the hem of his robe, and with a smooth, quick jerk, pulled his robe off. The demon slayer had seen many things in her life, but she couldn't help but gape like a drowning fish. The monk was now garbed some sort of simple, dark colored karate gi. He stretched lithely, revealing the light frame that was eternally hidden under the heavy robes. Sango's eyes widened. She hadn't expected him to even be wearing anything under all those heavy blankets. That thought, of course, only served to make her blush. Quickly, she scooted around back towards the fire, and began to strike the flints together as hard and fast as she could.

It was only when he was heading out into the woods surrounding the beach that she allowed herself to look back up, and stare at him as he left. Once he disappeared, she turned back to the wood, and began striking the flint as furiously as he could.

What was his problem? Why was it that he could always make her heart flutter wildly in her chest just by the slightest smiled. Why was it that he could always catch her off guard? She yelled as a mismatched strike of the stones crushed her thumb. She dropped the rocks, and stuck the stinging digit into her mouth, sucking gently.

Kirara gave an amused snort, and glanced at the demon slayer with a hint of self satisfaction.

Sango glared at her. "This wouldn't be happening if you would just light the fire for me." She grumbled.

Kirara blinked at her, looked right and left, a sly look on her feline face. The fire cat leaned forward and grinned in the most human expression Sango had ever seen her make. _'You should let him help you, you know.' _

Sango whipped around, stumbling though the fire pit as she scrambled backwards. She gaped at the fire cat just a moment, pointing like an idiot. "Did you just talk?" She stuttered.

'_He's a good boy.´_ The fire cat murmured. _'You shouldn't slap him so much.' _And with that, she curled up and went to sleep.

The girl took a few deep breaths, and shook her head. Since when did Kirara talk? She couldn't have just been imagining things.

"Is something wrong, Sango?" Miroku's voice sounded from behind her. She turned around, breathing hard. The monk cocked his head at her, brushing off the front of his gi. "You seem frightened, yet I sense no evil around."

She eye him for just a moment, then shook her head primly. "Just a little frustrated with the fire." She murmured.

The monk smiled at her gently, and kneeled down, picking up the flints. "Watch carefully." He said softly, and expertly cracked the two stones together. A few little sparks flared down into the nestled tinder. With a few careful ministrations, the flame flared up into a cheery little blaze. The monk leaned back, and brushed off his pale, bare arms. "You are striking your flints together to hard. You need careful control to start a fire."

Sango nodded slowly, watching his deft hands work. She had to admit; those hands did know how to work… she just didn't appreciate that they were normally working on her. "We should… probably find some food." She murmured, sounding slightly dazed.

Miroku glanced at her with those deep, violet eyes of his. "Are you sure that you are okay?" He asked. "You look pale."

Sango nodded slowly, casting a glance at the sleeping fire-cat. "Yeah…" she said finally. "I'm fine."

* * *

"Houshi…"

Miroku was not a morning person. It didn't help that this particular time of morning was still as dark as midnight. He grumbled ever so slightly, and rolled over.

"Houshi-Sama, wake up. We need to go."

The monk slowly sat up, rubbing his eyes with the back of a hand. "Sango?" He asked slowly, trying to blink himself awake.

Sango's dark eyes stared back at him, and she tugged lightly on his gi. "Houshi, we're leaving."

"Why are we leaving so early?" The monk muttered, getting slowly to his feet.

Sango rose out of her crouch, and turned around. "I don't want to be around when Sesshoumaru decides that he doesn't like us anymore." She muttered. "Besides, we need to find InuYasha as fast as we can."

Miroku nodded slowly, and grabbed up his now partially dry robes. "Very well then." He muttered. "Are Kohaku and Shippo awake?"

Sango shook her head, and pointed. The boy and the little kitsune were both draped across Kirara's back. The fire cat looked impatient. "We're sneaking out of camp, remember? We want stealth?"

Miroku nodded. "Good point."

Carefully, the pair of them threaded their way through the forest, away from the camp site, Kirara following them carefully. Walking when it was dark like this was like walking through an abyss. No light pierced through the trees, and Miroku could barely see a few feet in front of him. "Sango, do you know where we're headed?"

"For now, we're just heading east." She said back. "We'll try to find out exactly where we are in the morning."

Miroku sighed, and kept walking. "No chance of resting, then?"

"Don't count on it."

"Very well." The monk grumbled.

A tiny little noise from Kirara made the monk and his companion turn towards the fire cat. Shippo was awake, and sniffing the air with odd look on his face.

"Shippo?" Sango asked softly.

The kitsune lifted his nose higher into the air, rising onto his hind feet. "I smell something."

Miroku took a step forward. "What is it Shippo?"

"I smell…" He ginned suddenly, and turned towards them, beaming. "I smell Kagome!"

"What?" Miroku and Sango demanded in unison, forgetting to control their voices.

"Follow me." The kit declared, rolling off Kirara, and taking off through the woods.

With a nod to Sango, Miroku took of after him, with Kirara and the demon slayer close behind. They tore through the trees, rushing around trunk after trunk until they finally came to a fresh camp site.

"This is where the scent is strongest." Shippo declared, looking around to see if his surrogate mother was somewhere hiding. "There's her backpack!" He half shrieked, pointing at a large, yellow lump lying near a still smoking fire pit.

Sango looked around. "If Kagome's stuff is here, where is she?"

Miroku pondered this for just a moment, then pulled some hair out of his face. Wait… his hair wasn't long enough to hang into his face. He grabbed the hair, and glared at it. It was silver. Instantly his eyes traced up the length, up onto the overhanging branch. His eyes widened involuntarily. Kagome's calm, happy, sleeping face was only about three feet away from him, her chin peacefully hooked into InuYasha's strong shoulder. The monk gaped for just a moment, then crossed his arms. "Found them."


	34. Mysterious Names

Woot!

I am happy to announce that the half-year hiatus of this fic is officially over.

And to thank for this, we have my wonderful reviewer and the bestest person in the whole wide world: KaidaSama! Not only does she rock hard-core, but I was also the one who gave her that name.

Plus, she rocks hard core!

So, three cheers for KaidaSama, who did the friend thing, told me to get my head out of my butt, and just go for it.

See folks, in my writing lately, both with this fic and Hanyou.EXE, which has been my more recent work, I've been feeling something missing that I haven't really felt since I finished Two Weeks. But thanks to this more than wonderful person, I remembered what that thing was.

In Two Weeks, I just ignored my own suckiness at writing, and just went for it, trying to get a story that came out half decent. And sure enough, it wasn't the best thing ever. There were plenty of flaws, plenty of things that could have been better, but over all I really think that what came through most in that fic was just my joy at writing, and I think I've sort of rediscovered that.

This chapter (almost ten pages long) was the work of a single day, something I haven't done in almost a full year. I just sat down this morning, started to write, and just loved every minute of it. So, not only does this mark my first chapter in months to go up within a week of another, but it's also one of my greatest accomplishments as a writer.

So, the hiatus of this fic is over, and I'm still continuing Hanyou.EXE as well. Expect updates (hopefully frequent) for both of those to come.

Thanks to all the recent reviewers in this that made me feel better about this fic, and thanks to all of you for wading through all the half formed Ideas that are in here. Now that I'm a little more grown up and experience, hopefully I can redeem the slow start of this fic, and really get it going.

One last time, Three cheers for my wonderful Kaida-Chan (I mean… uh… Sama. Kaida-Sama. Aw, damn, she's gonna kill me now), and on with the never ending fanfic!

Luv ya Kaida!

* * *

Kagome awoke feeling much better than she had in a long, long time. She was warm, first off, and warm was something she very much enjoyed. She was also well rested, which hadn't happened in a while.

And then there was also last night… _Something _had happened last night, but she couldn't really remember what. It had something to do with InuYasha. It was something she was happy about, anyway. That she knew for sure.

What could it be?

She attempted to roll over, but only succeeded in getting entangles in her blankets.

Wait… hold it… blankets? She only had a sleeping bag. Through the fog of sleep, she looked down at what was keeping her warm. Dimply she recognized the course, red material as the fire-rat Haori that eternally adorned InuYasha's shoulders. But, if she was wrapped in InuYasha's haori, then that must mean…

He had let her borrow it the night before, to shield her from the cold. That was nice… that was probably what had happened that made her so happy. For a second she felt really stupid. It would take a love-sick girl like her to get so giddy about something so mundane.

She slowly readjusted herself so that she was lying on her belly, and tried to return to the wonderful land of not. But something odd happened… her forehead was pressing against _something_…

She opened her eyes, and found herself staring directly into InuYasha's serene face. Their noses were touching. Their lips, his slightly open from sleep, hers from shock, were only inches from each other.

_Woah…_

Kagome blinked, and swallowed.

_Holy…_

She took a deep breath.

_Shit! _

With a sudden shriek, she leaned strait up, overbalancing in the process. Arms wind-milling wildly, she toppled backwards, off of the branch they were inexplicably resting on, and too the forest floor ten feet below. Kagome didn't notice the hands that caught her as she fell, and set her gently to the ground. Her wind was to busy whirling in tiny hyperactive circles.

Dammit, she was _not _used to waking up next to InuYasha. Well, yeah, it had _happened _before, but she could always remember the things that had led up to it the next morning. But this morning she had no _idea _what was going on…

Okay, okay, quick status report:

Shirt still on… check.

Shorts… check.

Undergarments all in place… check.

She stole a quick glance up to InuYasha, and _thank god _his clothes were still in place, save the outer red Haori that was wrapped around her. Okay, so they hadn't done anything… _weird_, that was known at least.

Now Kagome jut had to decide if that was a good or a bad thing. Oh, god, she had _slept _with _InuYasha_… Not just slept near him out of necessity, like she had done in the past, but slept _with _him. She could still feel strong arms encircling her shoulders and the feel of his chin hooked over her shoulder and into her collarbone.

How was she going to be able to face him when he woke up?

And as if on Queue, InuYasha awoke, yawning broadly and glancing down at her. "Oi, wench, you okay down there?"

She instantly looked away from him, blushing madly. A few ghosts from last night came floating back to her. Something about a confession he had made, and a long conversation about Kikyo…

She slowly looked back up at his face, and, trying to keep the pink from her cheeks, asked: "InuYasha, what happened last night."

Kagome had no choice but to let out a little squeak of fear when a face superimposed itself in her vision, smiling and violet-eyes. "I would like to know the same question as well."

Another face joined it, looking at her from the other direction. "Me as well," a female voice added.

Kagome, brain starting to malfunction very badly, blinked. Then blinked again, and slowly sat up, looking left, then right. The people surrounding her looked _very _familiar, but there was no way they could be who she thought they were.

"Miroku?" she drawled, attempting to limit her confusion by only looking out of one eyes. "Sango?"

Both people smiled at her, grinning happily. InuYasha, grumpy as ever, dropped out of the tree like a sack of potatoes, and landed right next to them. "The hell are you people doing here?" he slurred roughly.

Miroku raised his right hand calmingly, and Kagome couldn't help but notice the appendage was terribly mangled. "There will be time for discussion later friends, but first I am interested in hearing your story…" One of Kagome's eyebrows shot up. _Their _story?

Miroku smiled at them peaceably. "So tell me, friends, when is your child due?"

After Sango finished applying some poultice from Kagome's medical kit to Miroku's face, she sat down near the fire across from InuYasha and Kagome, and took a deep, deep breath.

Kagome was amazed at the change in their friends. She had _never _seen them so beat up before. What had happened to them? But something else was bothering her as well. "Sango, where are the others?"

The woman smiled understandingly, nodding towards the woods. "We figured that having Shippo around when the two of you woke up" –Kagome mentally filled in the blank there, _Woke up in each others arms_- "might have been a little two much, so he and Kirara are standing guard for a little while."

Kagome nodded gratefully. Having the two of them there had been more than enough for her, thank you. "So, what happened to you?" she asked. "No offense, but you two look like you've been through hell."

Sango looked up directly at Kagome, and raised an eyebrow. "_I _have been. Houshi was a little luckier." With a chill, Kagome noticed for the first time that her friend's eyes had been stained a dark, lusterless, black. There was no white to be seen, and they didn't reflect light. They were like to empty holes, staring into nothing-ness.

Miroku leaned forward. "Perhaps _I _had best begin the tale." He murmured. "As the two of you left to work your way through the demon city, the four of us began to make good on our plan to circle around and meet up with you on the other side. Things, however, did not go as planned, and an unexpected visitor showed up for us."

InuYasha opened one eye. "You were attacked?"

Miroku shook his head. "Against all reasoning, it was Kohaku who appeared before us, and before we could even speak to him he took Shippo and ran."

_Kohaku? _"But I thought Kohaku was being held by Naraku!" Kagome half exclaimed.

Sango merely shrugged in response. "As near as any of us can tell, the dragons freed him," she smiled, and genuine smile. It looked creepy with those dead eyes of hers. "He's waiting out of the camp, with Shippo and Kirara. He doesn't even have a jewel shard in his back, anymore."

Kagome leaned forward automatically. "He's regained his memory?"

Sango shrugged, and shook her head. "They said that to keep him from killing himself, they had to wipe him clean." Her smile turned slightly bitter. "He doesn't remember anything. We even told him everything about his past, and that didn't work either."

Kagome bit her lip, and mentally slapped herself. _Way to go, Kag. Insert foot into mouth…_

"That aside, though, we gave chase," Miroku continued, "and…" he paused, and rolled his eyes. "This is a truly long story," he commented. "And it occurs to me that we are running short on time. I'll give you the short version, and we can fill in the details later."

Kagome shook her head. _Running low on time?_ _Why? _"Okay?"

Miroku nodded, and took a deep breath. "We defeated two dragons, met up with Atma, got some answers, Sango got sucked into the wind tunnel, thus leading to her current condition, Sango smashed my hand, leading to _my _current condition, took a short trip, met Vadise, returned to Shinjuku, got even more answers, and then hitched a ride back here." He smiled sweetly, and turned to Sango. "Is that it?"

The demon slayer nodded back. "That sounds right to me."

Kagome blinked, and gaped, then blinked again. Questions came so fast that they had a sudden traffic jam in her mind, until finally one managed to get ahead of the others. "You were sucked into the _wind tunnel_?" she blurted at Sango, looking back and forth between her two friends crazily. "But… but… your _alive_, and… uh…" She sat back, confused as hell.

The slayer nodded graciously, hands folded. "Atma, for one reason or another, decided to save me."

This time InuYasha was the one to sputter. "You really met _Atma_?" he growled. "You killed the bitch, _right_?"

Miroku shook his head. "I believe you misunderstood, InuYasha. She _saved _Sango, from almost certain death." He smiled. "We have gotten to know her, InuYasha, and out conclusion is that she is not as much of a bitch as one would think."

Sango nodded. "InuYasha, this entire ordeal for the past month was all a setup…"

The Hanyou cut her off with a growl. "I know. They just wanted the damn jewel."

"Indeed…" Miroku agreed. "It seems that you know almost as much as we do, but neither of you have asked the truly important question, yet."

Kagome narrowed her eyes. _The important question? Which was that? _

"How did we get here?" Sango volunteered, shrugging.

Kagome blinked. Miroku said that had hitched a ride, but… "Who did you come back with?"

Miroku smiled. "That would be the prudent question." Miroku agreed. "It seems that we somehow managed to hitch a ride back with one Sesshoumaru, Lord of the Western Lands."

There was a longish pause, then finally:

"Ahh," InuYasha mused, slowly getting to his feet. "No chance that he's coming for a touching family reunion?"

"He wishes for your sword," Miroku responded, also getting up. "He is not far away, so one would suggest that we run."

InuYasha spat. "Keh, I could take him out."

"I would prefer not, InuYasha," Miroku responded, reaching down to help Sango to her feet as well. "While you may be up to the challenge, me and Sango are rather weaponless, and both _very _tired, and we would like to reach a village as soon as possible."

InuYasha's eyes narrowed, and he let out a low growl. Kagome could tell that he didn't like the idea of running from his brother, no matter the cause. "InuYasha, look at them," she reprimanded.

The Hanyou's growl lessened as he looked at his companions. Kagome was very obviously right. They were in no condition to fight, and if the carnage spilled over onto them they'd be defenseless. "Alright, let's find the others, and move."

Miroku nodded, and put his good hand to his mouth. Taking a deep breath, the monk let out a piercing whistle, then turned to Kagome. "I would brace yourself."

"Why?" Kagome blinked in confusion, but then froze as she heard something echoing through the woods.

"Kagomeeeee!"

She would recognize Shippo's voice anywhere. She also recognized the sounds of impending doom-y collision. As fun as having the ball of fur wrap around her would be, she decided to skip it, and ducked at just the right moment.

Shippo, diving full speed, sailed smoothly over Kagome's head, and barreled into InuYasha with enough force to knock him temporarily off balance.

He peeled the little kit off his face with a growl, and handed him by the tail to Kagome.

Tenderly, the girl took the squirming kit, and gave him a warm hug and kiss to the forehead as he started babbling high-speed about dragons and adventures and pirates and who-knows-what-else. She listened patiently, occasionally adding in a word of encouragement or surprise as the rest of the group made quick work of the campsite and prepared to head out.

Finally, as the last of things were packed, Kagome set Shippo down, and headed over to InuYasha. "Are we ready?" she posed, inching closer to him. She was still having a little trouble looking him in the eyes. Memories of last night were still a little fuzzy, but now one thing he had said was sticking out plain a clear.

_'Gods, it's like I can't love two people or something.' _

InuYasha loved Kikyo, but he lover her too. He had admitted it, even if he didn't mean to, and that made her smile. And blush, whenever she met his eyes.

Miroku turned towards InuYasha, and handed him Kagome's hulking backpack. "You two go on ahead, we'll rendezvous with Kirara, and join you."

InuYasha nodded, and pulled Kagome's backpack on shoulder along with Kagome on the other. That was one thing InuYasha did have to admit about Kagome's 'summer clothes' as she called them. With the 'shorts' on, not only did her legs look even prettier, but he didn't have to be so careful with how he picked her up. He was always worried about the pervert monk taking a peek up that damn short skirt of hers. He hoped he would make her change in attire permanent.

"You okay, Kagome?" he demanded over a shoulder.

Kagome wrapped an arm around his shoulder, and snuggled a bit closer. "Anytime…" she murmured against him.

InuYasha felt a little wriggle go up his spine. Was she gonna be all cuddly like this from now on? She had gone all blush-y on him ever since this morning. Did she really think last night had been such a big deal?

On second thought, last night _had _been a big deal. He still felt kind of stupid for letting his feeling slip. It was something that he had heavily trained himself not to do. It was definitely something he didn't like do. Though, InuYasha reflect as he launched into the air and Kagome hugged even tighter, slips like that _did _have their benefits. And…

He was glad she knew. It was something that had been bothering him for a while, and now he didn't really have to worry about it anymore. Of course, there were still things to take care of. What exactly he would do with all the loose ends—the Shikon Jewel, Naraku, Kikyo… and Kagome—would come later. But now, the matters at hand.

He came back down into the trees, and began sprinting. Breaking through the trees near him came their companions, riding the large fire-cat. InuYasha looked over unconsciously, eyes drawing to the nearest member of their group.

Kohaku looked almost exactly as he had the last time they had fought, but InuYasha might have been expecting that. It was hard for him to look at the boy without feeling a sharp queasy feeling in his stomach. The boy had been their enemy for a long time, and a simple dismissal of his guilt by Sango didn't necessarily convince InuYasha. But then again, the jewel shard, the thing that Naraku had been using to control the boy, was gone, so how could the bastard still have a hold on him.

InuYasha would trust the boy, tentatively of course, until he showed the slightest sign of betrayal. But if that happened… someone would have some explaining to do.

Carefully darting through the trees, he approached where Kirara was running, and began to pace along beside her. "Hey, Miroku!" he shouted. "Was there something special Sesshoumaru was wanting? Seems awful sudden for him to just leave his precious city and come after me like this."

"There's definitely something afoot," Miroku shouted back. "From what I can tell, he wants the Tetsusaiga for a reason more specific than his normal jealousy."

_The hell did that mean?_ "What have you found out so far?"

"When we passed though Shinjuku, things were tense beyond belief. Even Sesshoumaru was acting strange, and there were dragons all over the place. It seemed to me and Sango as if they were preparing for a conflict of some sort."

InuYasha almost laughed. _Sesshoumaru_? Worried about a _fight_? That didn't sound in character at all. "Did you find out who's attacking?"

Miroku shook his head. "I'm not positive but there were a great many names getting thrown around." He got a goofy little grin on his face. "I'm afraid that I cannot remember any of them."

"Me neither…" Sango called out as well.

Then Kohaku whispered something, and InuYasha's ears flicked. The Hanyou sped up suddenly, and threw himself in front of the fire-cat, bringing them up short.

"What did you say?" he growled dangerously to the younger of the slayers.

Kohaku paled visibly, leaning back against his sister. "I'm sorry?" he asked tremulously.

"What was that name you just said?" he growled, sidling Kagome off of his shoulder and crossing his arms.

The boy looked down at the fire-cat's fur, and began kneading it unconsciously. "It was a name I heard from the dragons, and I heard Sesshoumaru and the others talking about it later too," he looked up. "I kept on hearing the name 'Menomaru,' over and over again."

InuYasha stiffened, and a low, rumbling growl began in his chest, and started rolling out into his throat.

"InuYasha does that name mean something to you?" Miroku asked. "You recognize it from somewhere?"

The hanyou didn't answer, but the stormy look on his face told them as much.

"InuYasha?" Kagome murmured, taking a step towards him. "Are you okay?"

With a harsh oath, InuYasha slung her back pack off his shoulder, and tossed it callously to her. "Miroku, Sango, take Kagome and get out of the way. I'll wait here."

Kagome almost choked. "But, InuYasha, if Sesshoumaru catches you…"

InuYasha spat. "Won't be near as bad as what happens if I catch _him _first."

The school-girl paled. She hadn't ever heard InuYasha talk about his brother like _this _before. "InuYasha…"

"Get out of here, Kagome," he muttered, crossing his arms. "I've gotta talk to Sesshoumaru, and I don't want you here for it."

"But-" she interjected, but was cut off by Sango wrapping an arm around her, and pulling her up onto Kirara's heavily laden back. The fire-cat gave them an eye-roll, and bucked up under the extra weight.

"Come on, Kagome," the slayer said. "We can't help him, and I'm pretty sure he needs to do this."

InuYasha nodded, and waved a hand for them to go.

_Menomaru…_

There was a name that he hadn't thought about in a while. Brought back other memories, too.

Hyoga, the bastard's father. And Ryuukotsutsei. There was a name that he didn't like at all.

And… InuTaisho.

InuYasha hadn't really thought about his father in a long, _long _time.

But Menomaru… there weren't many names that pissed him off as much as that one. Even Naraku wasn't as annoying to him as Menomaru.

If there was something about him in this, Sesshoumaru had better be ready to talk…

* * *

"Hey, Morgan, what does this do?"

"That, milady Rin, is a bull-whip. You use it to whip bulls." He thought for a moment, then added with a chuckle, "Or occasionally people."

"What about this?" Rin pulled another implement of destruction from the pile which Morgan had brought from his ship.

"That would be a crossbow," Morgan grinned, taking it from the girl. "It's sort of like a normal bow, only more convenient."

"And this?" The girl was holding a small knife.

"That's my dirk, milady. A sailor's knife."

"What about this?"

"That, milady, would be my belt. It hold's me britches up." Morgan had each of his fingers through a belt loop, and wasn't letting go. Flashing Sesshoumaru's charge would be a sure-fire way to get himself castrated then killed.

"Okay, then, what's this thing?" She pulled something out of the belt. It looked like a short, stumpy metal tube with some wood and a handle on it. "It looks stupid."

Morgan's eyes widened, and all at once, he snatched it (and his belt) from the girl's hands. "That's nothing, girl. Pay it no mind."

"Okay?" Rin said without a second thought, and went back to studying the pile of weapons.

Sesshoumaru, who had been watching the entire exchange silently, finally took a step towards the pile, and inspected the contents. There were tiny little instruments in there without number. Gracefully, Sesshoumaru reached down and picked a blade up, testing its balance in his hand. It was certainly broader than a traditional sword, but Sesshoumaru, who had managed to wield the Tetsusaiga once in his life, found that un-inhibiting. "I will take this," he said, not allowing the pirate any choice.

"Certainly, Milord," Morgan said anyway. If someone was going to take something whether you liked it or not, they might as well have your permission. "And while you go hunt down this InuWhatever character, I'll stay here and guard the lady Rin?"

Sesshoumaru shook his head, and stepped towards the woods. "My brother is near," he said authoritatively. "You will come with me." Then he turned to Rin. "Shadow us in the woods, and do not come out until it is wise to do so."

Rin gave her lordship a winning smile, and bowed. As soon as that was done, she was gone, flapping her arms frantically as she ran, still trying to learn to fly.

Sesshoumaru nodded to Morgan, and began striding into the woods.

Morgan winced, and looked back to his weapon pile, hating so to leave them behind. Perhaps he could…

"Come, Morgan," Sesshoumaru commanded from the trees.

Grumbling, Morgan re-belted himself, and grabbed a few of the choicer of the things Rin and pointed out. With those firmly fastened, Morgan started out after his newfound and unwanted liege.

It was a good amount of trekking through the forest before the pirate even caught up to the youkai lord, and further still before Sesshoumaru thought they were nearing the spot where InuYasha was.

"Hold, pirate," Sesshoumaru commanded, holding up one hand. "InuYasha is beyond here, and I think this is an encounter that would best be served for me to go in by myself." He fixed Morgan with a cool glare. "Do not interfere unless you are needed."

Morgan was fine with that. He wasn't about to fight this guy's fights for him.

* * *

InuYasha knew that Sesshoumaru was near before he could even see the bastard. The place where he sat, sword held loosely in his hand, stank of him before he was even in sight.

"Get out here, Sesshoumaru," InuYasha growled. "I know you're there…"

Emerging through the trees like some Mayan statue Sesshoumaru came, eyes narrowing and a sword in his hand also.

"InuYasha…" the tai-youkai murmured. "Why are you so calm?"

InuYasha slowly rose to his feet. His leg still hurt from the slash Ayame had given him, but certainly it wasn't as bad as it had been. Kagome fixing it up for him had helped a lot. "Sesshoumaru, what's all this about?"

Sesshoumaru took a step towards him. "I need the Tetsusaiga, InuYasha," he stated bluntly.

The Hanyou rolled his eyes. "What else is new?" he demanded, voice hard and steely. "What's this shit I've been hearing about Menomaru, huh?"

Sesshoumaru turned his head to the side. "The place where he was sealed was struck with a jewel shard when the girl you take with you shattered it." His eyes traced back up to meet InuYasha's. "Menomaru is unsealed, InuYasha, and he is after the Tetsusaiga."

InuYasha's face contorted in anger. "I don't care what he's after, Sesshoumaru. Why the fuck is he unsealed, and why the fuck isn't he dead yet?"

The tai-youkai lifted his claws, and flexed them. "If I had my choice, I would have killed him myself, but the dragons are being far too careful in this matter."

"What do those damn lizards have to do with anything?" The Hanyou demanded. "This is our problem, not theirs."

Sesshoumaru slowly began to circle his brother. "You were too young at the time of the war, InuYasha, to know the circumstances of it. But rest assured, the dragons play a greater roll in this than you could imagine."

InuYasha snorted. "So you're not going to take him out?"

Sesshoumaru gave him an almost imperceptible smile. "You forget, InuYasha, that the one person in this would I would rather kill than you is the bastard son of the demon Hyoga." His claw began glowing. "I will kill him when the time is right, but not before then."

InuYasha spat. "Tell me where he is, and I'll do it for you," he grinned. "You're forgetting I hate him just as much as you."

"I doubt that," Sesshoumaru reprimanded, still circling. "Menomaru's head is mine." He stopped, and cracked his knuckles. "But before that, I need your sword."

InuYasha spat, and drew the Tetsusaiga into his hand, not transforming it yet, though. "Try to take it..." the Hanyou threatened.

Sesshoumaru smirked, and drew his blade. "As you wish…"

* * *

There was something very, _very _wrong with all this. It wouldn't stop bothering Kagome's brain. Some little detail she was overlooking, she knew, but couldn't think of what it might be.

"Kagome," Sango asked from behind her shoulder. "Do you know what that name means to InuYasha?"

Kagome shook her head. She had _never _seen InuYasha react so strongly. Even when he had first discovered Naraku he hadn't been this mad. Who could this person be, that made InuYasha so angry?

And what's more, why was InuYasha willing to talk to his brother over it. InuYasha _hated _Sesshoumaru. What would piss the hanyou off to the point where he would actually talk to him?

Especially when it would probably end in blows.

Then in clicked. _Blows. Fighting_.

She bit her lip, and resisted the urge to use some language that would make InuYasha blush.

Almost instantly Sango noticed something was wrong with Kagome. "What is it?" she demanded, trying to ready herself as best as possible.

Kagome slid off the moving fire-cat, and urged it on. "I just remembered," she seethed, cursing herself for her own stupidity. "InuYasha was hurt. He could barely walk last night."

Sango gasped, and instantly tried swinging herself off as well. "We have to-"

"You stay," Kagome commanded, cutting her off. "I'll go."

"But what can you do?"

Kagome ran a thumb along the bot at her shoulder, and then looked down at her own hands. "I'm not as helpless as all that," she murmured, and turned. "Take care of yourselves. We'll come find you after the fight's over."

Sango pursed her lips, but nodded.

As the fire-cat got further out of sight, Kagome turned, and began running the way InuYasha had come. If she didn't get there in time… she wasn't sure what she'd do…

She hoped it wouldn't come to that.


	35. Questions and insults

Okay, is very late, and Jax is very tired. He has work in the morning, so no comments for you.

Thanks for reviewses, and I love you all, blah, blah, blah.

Update on Hanyou coming soon.

I hope.

Here you go.

* * *

Steel hissed across steel like twin snakes, blows snapping back and forth as InuYasha and his half brother lashed at each other. Sesshoumaru was, if anything, even faster than InuYasha remembered, relentless in his battering. The hanyou quickly found himself getting driven backwards through the trees. His leg was burning, too, even within the first few seconds of the fight, and he could feel sticky warmth running down his half. He must have torn it open again.

Sesshoumaru flicked out with his wide blade, the blade sneaking under InuYasha's defense and lashing lightly across his chest, drawing a line of red through both layers of clothing and into his flesh.

_Shit_! He fell back, bracing himself against a tree, and caught the tai-youkai's next blow on the Tetsusaiga's diminutive crossbar, locking it there with his free hand.

"Not bad…" he grated out, voice strained.

He was met with a smooth, subtle smile. "Is there something wrong, InuYasha?" Sesshoumaru queried. "You've abandoned your normal strategy of swinging wildly at me. You've yet to even transform your sword." The tai-youkai began steadily applying pressure on his blade, forcing InuYasha's sword down.

"Keh," InuYasha spat. "I don't need to transform it to beat the shit out of you, bastard."

"I see," Sesshoumaru murmured, and shoved the Tetsusaiga aside, beginning his shoulder up into InuYasha's face as he did so.

Spitting blood, the half demon recovered from the blow, and lashed forward, bringing the Tetsusaiga's hilt down on the top of Sesshoumaru's head as hard as he could. "Talk, Sesshoumaru," he demanded. "If Menomaru is back, why the hell are you going after me?"

Scowling, InuYasha's brother lashed out with his light whip, leaving two burning marks across InuYasha's cheeks. "The Tetsusaiga…"

"_Bullshit_," InuYasha swore, lashing out with his claws this time, barely missing his target. "You could give that bastard a run for his money back when we were kids. You don't need the Tetsusaiga to take him down, so don't give me that crap."

"You are right…" Sesshoumaru murmured, dancing away. "_I _have no need of the sword. It is Menomaru who is after the blade."

_Menomaru_? With the _Tetsusaiga_? That pissed him off more than Sesshoumaru trying to get the damn sword. "Why the hell does he want it?"

Sesshoumaru scowled. "Our father's fang seals his father's body. He seeks out another fang to break the seal."

InuYasha felt his blood chill. "He wants to unseal Hyoga?" he yelled.

"Rather than hand him what he wants, I will take the Tetsusaiga, and keep it from him."

InuYasha spat, and charged. "What makes you think you'd protect it better'n I would, huh?" he demanded with a mighty downward swing.

Sesshoumaru sidestepped, and lashed out with a soft-booted foot, kicking InuYasha hard enough to imbed his frame in a tree twenty feet away. "You expect me to trust you with our enemy's desire, when you cannot even protect yourself?"

The hanyou dropped from the tree, breathing hard. His leg was _really _starting to kill. "Try me," he roared, rolling to his feet and once again charging with the Tetsusaiga upraised.

Sesshoumaru shook his head, and raised his own blade to find off the attack. Whatever the tai youkai had been expecting his brother to do, it wasn't what happened. InuYasha suddenly changed the way he was holding his sword ever so slightly, and brought it down in a lightning quick chopping motion, knocking Sesshoumaru's own blade well out of the way, then reversed his grip to the blade and pressed the hilt up against Sesshoumaru's face.

Almost as soon as the ragged cloth wrapped wood touched down, the anti-youkai enchantment kicked in, crackling into the tai-youkai's smooth cheek.

Sesshoumaru recoiled instantly, jerking away with a low growl.

Even as he recovered, InuYasha started whirling, willing the Tetsusaiga into its titanic true form, and swinging it in an arc that could have taken Sesshoumaru's head off. InuYasha's brother barely had time to react, dropping low, below the swing, and bringing a heavy fist into the hanyou's gut.

"Was that an actual attempt at swordplay, InuYasha?" Sesshoumaru murmured, standing tall as the hanyou doubled over, sputtering. "I am impressed. You always seemed below such things."

InuYasha spat another gobbet of blood, and staggered to his feet. "but somehow, you haven't beaten me yet, huh?"

Sesshoumaru shrugged, and tightened his grip on his own blade. "This is a simple matter to remedy," he remarked.

InuYasha barely saw him move, but all at once Sesshoumaru was in front of him, wielding the blade in a near-classic kendo stance, only modified to make up for the tai-youkai's lost arm. They locked eyes for only a moment, and slowly InuYasha did a bitter little grin. His sword came up into the same stance, the blades just lightly crossed at the tip. "Been a while since we've done this, eh?"

There was a flicker of movement and two resounding clangs before they were at a standstill again, blades locked at the hilts, eyes blazing. "Don't think this is like those paltry duels we used to have, InuYasha…" Sesshoumaru murmured, breaking through and launching into a flurry of stunning blows that sent painful shocks ringing down InuYasha's arm and into his chest. "If need be, I will kill you."

"You'd kill me anyway," InuYasha gritted. "Don't see how us fighting the old fashioned way makes a difference…"

_Dammit… leg was burning like hell._ InuYasha wasn't sure how much more he could keep up.

Sesshoumaru, look of vague contempt on his face, launched sideways then in, thrusting hard. The blade sliced in, sliding across the hanyou's shoulder blade, drawing a stinging line of deep crimson across the scarlet Haori. "You're slash is fast, InuYasha, but your defense is still lacking." He lifted his blade again, preparing to skewer the Hanyou. "'Tis a fatal error."

The little twang barely reached their ears before the arrow hit, with beautiful accuracy, into Sesshoumaru's pale wrist. The tai-youkai recoiled sharply, ripping the shaft out of his already blistering flesh before any more of the miko power would sink into him.

Both the hanyou and his brother turned their gaze to where Kagome stood, halfway hidden by a tree, another arrow already strung on her bow and the string tight in her fingers.

InuYasha was, surprisingly, the first to recover, and planted both feet into Sesshoumaru's gut, pushing hard. The silver haired youkai was scent careening backwards. He recovered, flipping in the air, and landing soundly. "Do women in your company always interrupt combat so?" he asked, eyes calm.

InuYasha moved his head side to side, neck cracking grotesquely. Then he slowly glanced towards Kagome again, eyes narrowing. "I told you to wait," he growled dangerously.

With a little wince, he could see her fierce face melt just a little behind her bow. He couldn't really blame her for coming… hell, he had been half expecting it, but still… She had interrupted something important. "Don't interfere," he commanded, slowly turning back towards Sesshoumaru.

"But," he head her voice ring out. He repressed a growl, and threw a hand out at her.

"I said don't bother us, wench," he snarled. "You're messing with something you don't understand,"

Kagome gaped at him involuntarily. Was he _crazy_? Sesshoumaru had been about to skewer him. "InuYasha, you need-"

"I _need _you to butt out, Kagome," InuYasha growled, stalking towards Sesshoumaru.

She watched in fascination as the two brothers cautiously circled each other, swords raised. With a sinking, feeling, she noticed that InuYasha's hurt leg was soaked from the calf down with blood. That _idiot_! What was his problem? He should be happy she came to help…

"I see you do have some dignity, at least." Sesshoumaru murmured.

"She's got no part in this, Sesshoumaru," InuYasha growled back. "Keep her out of this."

Sesshoumaru took another step forward, finally crossing swords with InuYasha. "I will leave her be, but the Tetsusaiga is mine."

InuYasha spat. "Why do you want it so bad, huh, Sesshoumaru? You don't need it. You can't even use it!"

Sesshoumaru scowled. "This is what the dragons-"

"_Bullshit_," InuYasha roared, snapping forward and battering at Sesshoumaru, locking swords and forcing him back. "You're gonna just let the dragons have their little way while Menomaru sits around and gets power? What are you, just a little bastard flunky now?"

Kagome shook her head. _Menomaru_… that was the name that had InuYasha all bent out of shape…

The tide suddenly reversed, and it was InuYasha being driven back under the ferocious attacks of his brother. "Watch your tongue, _hanyou_." Sesshoumaru seethed, knocking the Tetsusaiga aside.

InuYasha recovered, and lashed again, striking back. "So it's true, then?" InuYasha demanded. With sudden smoothness, he leapt back near Kagome, and deliberately turned his back to Sesshoumaru, sheathing the Tetsusaiga. "Well, since you're so up about it, I'll just go kill the bastard myself." He turned towards Kagome, eyes narrow. "C'mon, let's leave Mr. Coward here, and-"

He was interrupted suddenly, cut off by Kagome's scream of horror. He looked downwards slowly, and grimaced at the foot of steel sticking out of his chest, just beneath his sternum. He pitched forward, staggering, and turned back towards Sesshoumaru, coughing up blood.

Kagome was at his side in an instant, under one shoulder, holding him up. She shot Sesshoumaru a look of venom that would have wilted flowers, but InuYasha beat her to any words.

"Backstabbing, eh, Sesshoumaru?" he gasped. "Don't think Dad would like you doing stuff like that." The tai-youkai visibly stiffened at that. "You know, I think that if he were here, _he _wouldn't be waiting around for some dragons to give him permission to go kill one of his enemies, either. He sure would be disappointed in you."

Kagome choked suddenly, not being able to breath at all. It was like she had just been doused in a cloud of Naraku's worst miasma, but there was no poison to be seen. Sesshoumaru, however, had gone rigid as a board, eyes glazing over red and hair snapping around him in unfelt winds. "InuYasha…" she quavered.

"Of course, you _were _a rebel last time we met Menomaru. Maybe you're just being nostalgic, and wanna disappoint the old man again."

Something snapped, and two things happened at once:

Sesshoumaru snarled. Not his normal grimace, snort, or even occasional derisive laugh. This was something else, a level of Sesshoumaru that Kagome had never seen before. His lips peeled back, revealing bared fangs, and his eyes were deep, bloody crimson. The sword in his hand melted as he lunged, and his claws went strait for InuYasha's face, glowing sickly green.

And at the same time, as if by some incredible piece of instinct, Kagome also launched into action, dropping InuYasha and lunging forward herself, palm outstretched towards the tai-youkai.

By some miracle, her hand snaked past his, and connected his chest. Feeling a sudden force well up inside her, Kagome _pushed_, without even really being sure how. There was a flash, and searing pain in her shoulder, and then she was out.

Apparently, though, not for very long.

"Kagome, dammit! Wake up!"

She had never been so happy to head InuYasha swear at her. She opened her eyes, and slowly sat up, moaning painfully as she did so. Her shoulder _really _hurt. She glanced down, and turned away suddenly, pale. That _explained _why it really hurt. Sesshoumaru's claws must have grazed her, because the shoulder of her shirt was ripped, and the flesh underneath was… not very pretty.

She had to fight down the urge to puke, but she managed to get some help from the gentle clawed hand on her good shoulder. "Gods, Kagome… are you…" InuYasha's voice gasped.

She could hear other voices behind his, softer and more urgent.

She looked up as her head cleared. "Where's Sesshoumaru?"

Through her hazed vision, she could make out InuYasha's face. He looked like he was smiling slightly. "Don't think he's getting up any time soon."

She leaned forward, and shook her head, trying to get into a position where she could think. She had… hit Sesshoumaru. Her hands were tingling, like she had just had electricity run though her.

She finally managed to look around, and gaped just a little at the scene in front of her. Two other people had somehow appeared in the clearing since she had passed out, and they were huddling over the still form of _something_.

Her eyes widened… _Sesshoumaru_?

She glared up at InuYasha, blinking wildly. "What did you _do _to him?" she demanded. The hanyou shook his head and stood up, helping Kagome to her feet as well.

"Didn't do a damn thing," he grumbled, taking a step back and wincing from hole in his chest. "You did your stupid blast thing, and he was laid out flat." He glanced down at her shoulder. "How bad does it hurt?"

With that question, Kagome wasn't able to try to tune out the pain racking through her anymore, and she cringed despite herself. "Pretty bad," she admitted, clenching her teeth. _Don't think about it_, she told herself, and returned her gaze to the trio across from them.

The most obvious one, standing like some sort of guardian, arms akimbo, was a pirate. A real, true-blue pirate. He had the coat, the britches, the boots, the _hat_. He even had a scimitar hanging at his hip. He was also white. European. One thing she had never expected to see in _this _time was a European. He was eyeing them suspiciously, hand resting on _something _in his sash.

The other was much less noticeable, but much more shocking. A human. A little girl. Normally someone she wouldn't even look twice at. But she was leaning over Sesshoumaru, concerned look on her face. A human. Girl. Was leaning over _Sesshoumaru_. Worried.

Somewhere, in Kagome's head, the connection failed.

And then she eyes Sesshoumaru. And started choking…

There was blood. Lots of it. Oozing from his chest and soaking his partially charred clothes. Holy _shit_… had she done… that?

A sudden gasp wracked the youkai-lord's chest, and the girl was instantly down, and inch from his face, whispering something.

Kagome could barely make out Sesshoumaru's lips moving as he started to stir. The girl nodded, and slowly stood up, coming to stand by the pirate, looking at them with such inquisitive eyes that a cat might have been put to shame. She cleared her throat, and smiled. "Sesshoumaru-Sama says that InuYasha," she pointed at the hanyou, "should watch his mouth, and you," she pointed to Kagome, "only got a lucky shot in because he wasn't expecting you be that ripped." She paused a moment, and giggled. "Only he says it all graceful-like, you know, cuz he's Sesshoumaru-Sama."

Kagome shook her head and leaned forward involuntarily. "I'm sorry?"

The girl nodded. "If Sesshoumaru-Sama had been fully aware of your power, he would never have exposed himself like that." She smiled even sweeter, and behind her, Sesshoumaru started stirring, leaning forward slightly. His face, normally impassive, was twisted with anger and pain. It was scary, seeing Sesshoumaru so emotional. Something was wrong with all of this.

The girl turned around again, and ran back to his side. "Would you like help, milord?" she giggled, reaching out to help him up.

If she took any offence when Sesshoumaru swatted her hand away, she gave none. The tai-youkai, breathing harder than a fat kid after a five mile run, slowly got to his feet, and stood erect, making his face as placid as possible. The crater-like wound on his chest, she could see, had already clotted, and the bleeding wasn't half what it should have been, and she could see scabbing taking place already. Amazing… he healed even better than InuYasha did.

He leveled a stern gaze at them, and slowly took a step backwards. "If you insult me so again, I will kill you," he grated.

"Need any help, sir?" the pirate murmured.

Kagome shook her head. Good, god, he even _talked _like a pirate.

"I need no assistance," Sesshoumaru murmured, taking slow, near-staggering steps away from the gathering. "I shall walk on my own."

As he faded from sight, the little girl skipped after him, singing happily.

The pirate was left, standing stalk still, regarding the hanyou and her friend warily. "So… that's the sword all this is about," he mused, stroking his braided beard. "Big enough to make a Scotsman sweat, looks like." He gave them a grin. One tooth was gold. "I reckon I'll just let you and your brothers punch this one out. Just so long as I get paid, eh?"

He swaggered around, and gallantly strode towards the path the other two had left on, singing a low sea chantey as he went.

Kagome was terribly nonplussed, eyebrows up and jaw hanging down. "Are you as confused as I am?" she murmured, leaning back and half falling into InuYasha.

The hanyou gave out a little _ohmf_, and staggered backwards, catching the girl in mid fall, careful of her shoulder. "Dammit, wench, don't fall all over me…"

"Sorry," she mumbled, regaining her balance. "It just really hurts…"

"Keh," InuYasha mumbled, and casually leaned down to hook his arm around her waist. "You can kick the shit out of my brother, but you can't even walk on your own."

"Sorry," she apologized again, blushing despite herself. Prodded gently by InuYasha, she started walking, and eventually was able to stand on her own. But that didn't stop her missing the warm arm around her. "InuYasha, what was all that?"

"That's what I wanna know," he grumbled back, crossing his arms. "You saved my life two times in three days." He chuckled. "I know you're too useless to actually do anything, so I just must be slipping."

She scowled, and punched his side. "That's not what I meant," she scolded. "Who's this Menomaru, and what's got you so worked up about him, and what was that thing that you and Sesshoumaru were going?"

InuYasha paused just a second. "You know when you asked me about my childhood couple days ago, and I told you I was born during a war?"

Kagome nodded, enjoying anything that would take her mind off her shoulder.

"The bastard the old man was at war with was a guy from China named Hyoga," InuYasha confided. "But I never met him. But is did have the…" –a bitter chuckle- "_privilege _of meeting the guy's son. Littler bastard named Menomaru."

Kagome blanched. "But I thought your dad one that war?"

InuYasha shook his head. "_We _won that war. Dad managed to seal all the really big opponents away, but after that, he died." Another bitter chuckle. "And that's when my life became shit."

Kagome wanted to ask what happened after, but one look at his stormy face made her drop it. "So… what do we do now?"

"Town," the hanyou grunted, quickening his pace.

"Town?"

InuYasha rolled his eyes. "Miroku and Sango need clothes, you to get your shoulder looked at, and after we get that squared away, I think we all need to know what's going on, hmm?"

"Okay," Kagome murmured, and kept walking. "But what was with that whole duel thing? You and Sesshoumaru almost looked like you knew what you were doing."

"That was… something different." The hanyou actually looked sad for a moment, before the pissed look crossed back across his face. He glanced at her, and his lips twisted up, and finally he continued. "Back when I was still a kid, Sesshoumaru used to spar with me." He smiled. "I'd have to sneak out to keep mom from knowing, but if I could make it, he'd always show me a thing or two, and we'd always spar just like that. He'd let me win most of the time too."

Kagome gaped at him. Somehow, the image of him and Sesshoumaru fighting for fun, and what's more the elder brother _letting _InuYasha _win_… it didn't seem right. "What happened?" she breathed.

InuYasha chuckled again. It was a bitter, bitter sound. "Like I said, my life became shit."

* * *

"Sesshoumaru-Sama," Rin nagged as she followed along beside him. "You should let me help you."

"I need no assistance…" Sesshoumaru grated out, teeth clenched. He _wanted _assistance. He wanted it a lot. Whatever InuYasha's _wench _had hit him with, it had hurt. Physically, Sesshoumaru wasn't sure he had ever been in so much pain.

Once, when InuYasha had first used the windscar and he had met Rin… that came _close _to this. But never had so much damage been dealt.

To think, a human like that, such power had been wielded. Sesshoumaru had never even _thought _of InuYasha's bitch as a threat.

He would _not _make the same mistake again. Kagome… that was her name. He would have to remember it.

He had a feeling he would be seeing them again, shortly.

"Milord," the voice called behind him. It was the pirate. "Milord, I suggest we head towards the ship. We have some bandages and stuff there, and I can stitch you up-"

"I need no medical anything," Sesshoumaru growled, stopping against a tree. "I need no assistance, I need no help." He slowly slid down the trunk, leaving a trail of blood as he went.

Rin leaned forward, cherubic face tilted in concern. "Are you sure, Sesshoumaru-Sama? We could-"

"Go to the ship, Rin," Sesshoumaru gritted.

The little face smiled. "Great!" she giggled. "I'll be right back with-"

"Take Morgan with you, return to Shinjuku."

The smile faded. "Sesshoumaru-Sama…"

"Ensure that the fool Aaron is not destroying anything, and take charge."

Rin's lips pursed, and her eyes turned serious. "Are your wounds fatal, Sesshoumaru-Sama?"

There was a long pause, followed by what passed for a smile from Sesshoumaru. "These wounds are paltry," he said, slowly rising to his feet. "However my goal is not attended."

"You're going after InuYasha _again_, Sesshoumaru-Sama?"

He shook his head, and flexed a clawed hand. "InuYasha and his woman are the illogical choice," he murmured. "Instead I will go after the one who is most sensitive."

"Milord?"

"I am going to kill Menomaru, dragons be damned."


End file.
